CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The television screen that night showed a film of Louis's departure from Rothnik several days earlier, and Melissa joined Princess Helene to watch it. How handsome Louis looked as he walked past the rows of soldiers drawn to attention on either side of the runway. Krassky walked beside him, .looking so smug that Melissa would not have been surprised to hear his purr coming through the loudspeaker.

Behind Louis came Alexi and Phoebe, for the State Visit included several members of the Court. Melissa was vaguely sorry she had elected to stay behind. It would have been interesting to see at first hand a country she had heard so much about.

Beside her, Princess Helene gave a sharp exclamation and, looking at the screen—from which her eyes had momentarily wandered—Melissa saw the graceful figure of Elise. As she watched, the woman moved closer to Louis, and was directly behind him as he mounted the steps of the aircraft.

Unable to stop herself, Melissa jumped up and switched off the television. How dared Louis take Elise with him after the promise he had made to be discreet! Didn't he know the gossip such an action would cause? It was all very well for him to continue his love affair within the confines of Elise's home, but to advertise it abroad was both foolish and cruel.

'So you didn't know Elise was going with him?' Princess Helene said.

'No. I never talk to Louis about his private life.'

'More fool you! That woman shouldn't be allowed to continue coming here. You should put your foot down.'

'And have it trodden on?' Melissa said bitterly. 'I have no choice in the matter. One of the things my uncle taught me was never to make demands I didn't have the strength to carry out!'

'You do have the strength. If you insist, Louis will listen to you.'

'Through fear?' Melissa sighed. 'That would make him hate me even more.'

She jumped up and made a pretence of wanting some air. It enabled her to put sufficient distance between herself and Princess Helene for her tears not to be seen. It was incredible to think she had known Louis for less than two months; her love for him was so strong that she felt he had been part of her life for ever.

'What do you intend to do about the future?' Princess Helene asked.

The question took Melissa by surprise until she realised the woman knew nothing of Sir Donald's visit nor where it might eventually lead. It was concerned solely with Louis's emotional life. Yet with Elise urging him to come to terms with Krassky, it was Louis's emotions that could lead him to make a disastrous decision for his country.

'I can do nothing about Louis's future,' she said aloud. 'Perhaps one day he'll see Elise for what she is. They say infatuation doesn't last.'

'It can last long enough to ruin his life.'

Melissa made a disclaiming gesture, and recognising it as such, Princess Helene talked instead of the forthcoming luncheon which the French Cultural Attaché was arranging in honour of her seventy-fourth birthday.

At nine o'clock Melissa returned to her apartment, and shortly afterwards Calvin Clement arrived. He had been dining with Conrad Tolkien, whom he had met years before when the neurosurgeon had operated on one of the partners in his law firm.

Hardly had he settled down in front of her when she asked him if he had made arrangements to sell all her shares.

'It can't be done overnight,' he protested.

'Don't stall, Clemmie. I am giving Louis that money whether you like it or not!'

'It's your money,' the lawyer said mildly.

'Then do as I tell you and make it available!'

She walked around the room, too agitated to rest. One thought was uppermost in her mind: Elise was with Louis. Even while she herself was arranging to give him her entire fortune—and possibly lose it all—he was with another woman. Was he making love to her at this moment?

She glanced at her watch and then quickly spoke to Clemmie, saying the first thing that came into her head so long as it would force her to concentrate on something else. 'I suppose Sir Donald has returned to London?'

'Not yet.'

'Why is he remaining here?'

'Some other government business, I believe,' the lawyer said vaguely. 'He is, of course, most distressed that your marriage doesn't appear to have solved the situation.'

'That's the understatement of the year! It not only hasn't solved it, it has tied me to a man who can't wait to get rid of me!'

Later, as she lay in bed courting sleep that would not come, she knew that if Louis did turn to Krassky she would have to go back to England.

'I wouldn't wait for him to ask me to leave,' she muttered aloud. 'If he's spineless enough to listen to Elise, he isn't worth loving!'

Unfortunately love could not be commanded. It had come to her unbidden and would remain with her for a long time to come. Burying her head in her pillow, she burst into tears.

Louis was returning to Rothnik on Friday afternoon. No arrangement had been made for her to meet him at the airport, and she was not sure whether to pretend she was still suffering from the unspecified malaise which the people of Motavia believed had prevented her from accompanying her husband on his State Visit.

Discretion finally decided her to remain at the palace, and from lunchtime onwards she hovered by the window in their private drawing room, ears alert for the sound of his plane.

At three o'clock she heard the heavy drone of a squadron of aircraft in the sky, and hurriedly she changed into a peach silk dress. The colour gave warmth to her skin and hair, while excitement pinked her cheeks and she tried to mask it with powder. But the colour faded of its own accord as two hours elapsed without Louis's arrival, and she had just concluded that he had gone home with Elise when the door opened and he came in.

Absence seemed to have changed him: he looked paler than she remembered and there was a tenseness in his figure she had not noticed before. Abruptly he came towards her, and though he stopped a few yards away, she saw the fine lines of tiredness fanning out from the sides of his eyes.

'Hello, Louis. I hope everything went well?'

'Very well. I was treated to a magnificent display of air and land power and showed myself to be suitably impressed.'

'And frightened?'

'Not any more.'

'You don't need Krassky's help,' she blurted out. 'I can get you the money you need.'

She had not meant to say it like this, but the tautness of his manner had increased her own tension and she was impelled to try and ease his mind. But though she had hoped to do so, he continued to look at her mutely, as though he had not taken in what she had said.

'Don't you understand me, Louis? I can arrange for you to have the money you need.'

'I don't need it now.'

'You mean you're going to...'

She stopped, unable to go on, and he filled the silence for her.

'I mean I have decided that Motavia cannot sit on the fence any longer. I have made my decision and I ‑' He stopped as the door burst open and Alexi rushed in, the shine of sweat on his forehead.

'The Prime Minister wishes to see you! You were right about the Opposition, Louis. They've—'

'I knew it!' Louis shouted, and with an oath strode out, followed by Alexi.

Melissa went after them, but seeing them run down the stairs to the ground floor, knew they were going to the State Room. Nervously she went to her bedroom.

She was not needed here any longer. Louis had made his choice. How easily he had been swayed by the array of strength flaunted in front of him during the last few days. If only his State Visit had been to the West instead of the East! If it had, he might have opted for freedom instead of oppression. Yet perhaps he had made up his mind before he had left Rothnik. That could be the reason why Elise had gone with him; to make sure she received due kudos from Krassky for having exerted her influence over a lovesick Prince.

Contempt for him filled her with nausea, and not giving herself time to think, she rang the British Embassy and asked to speak to Sir Donald.

'You've heard?' he said as he came on the line.

'Yes,' she marvelled that the news had travelled so fast. 'I want to leave Motavia. Please arrange it.'

'But surely—'

'You've got to help me! I married Louis because you said it was my duty, but that no longer applies.'

'I still think ‑'

'I want to leave now,' she insisted. 'If you don't want to help me, I'll call Reuters. They'll make a wonderful story out of it!'

'You mustn't do that!' Sir Donald was aghast. 'Leave it to me. But I must get you out incognito, and that means a special passport.'

'I'm sure that's a problem you can easily overcome!'

'It will take time. Ill have to call you back.'

It was three hours before he did, three hours during which she paced the room and drank countless cups of coffee.

When the telephone rang she was in a state of such agitation she could hardly speak, but luckily Sir Donald did all the talking, telling her to travel only with a small case and that he would send a car for her in an hour. Only as he came to the end did he again ask her to reconsider her action.

'I still fail to see the urgency, my dear.'

Again she was staggered that he could expect her to live in a country controlled by people she loathed. Besides, didn't he realise Louis would be asking her to go in any event?

'I will wait by the North Door in an hour,' she said firmly. 'Please see the car is on time.'

Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, she changed into a dark dress and coat and put on a hat that covered her hair. Her official photographs showed her in formal clothes and hatless, and she hoped that with her hair hidden she would not be recognised at the airport.

It was only as she hurried down the corridor that she remembered she had left her watch in the drawing room. The clasp was loose and she had taken it off to look at it when Louis had walked in. It was a twenty-first birthday present from Clemmie and she was reluctant to leave it behind.

Running back, she was half way across the room before she saw the woman half hidden by the curtains. Astonishment brought her to a stop. What was Elise doing here?

'If you are waiting for Louis,' she said icily, 'I suggest you do so in one of the State Rooms.'

'I don't take orders from you!'

Melissa caught her breath at the arrogance of the reply. How confident Elise must feel now that Louis had set Motavia squarely on the side she wanted. Confident enough to believe she could disregard his marriage.

'I am surprised you didn't have the courtesy to wait for me to leave,' Melissa continued. 'Or are you scared Louis might find someone else before you can step in?'

'I didn't know you were going.' Elise's eyes were narrow blue icicles.

'Did you expect me to stay here?'

Elise shrugged. 'You love him. I expected you at least to put up a fight.'

'I don't believe in fighting for a man.'

'Then you should never have come here in the first place.'

'I agree with you. It has all been a waste of time.' Wearily Melissa picked up her watch from the mantelpice and slipped it into her pocket. 'I hope you and Louis will enjoy doing the goose step together !'

Blindly she turned and went out. There were no servants about and she hurried through the main State Rooms, believing she was less likely to be seen here than if she kept to the corridors. It was a wise move, for she only encountered a couple of servants who deferentially moved out of her way.

The anteroom leading to the East Wing entrance was deserted. This part of the Palace was used by diplomats for official visits only, and there were no private attendants here, only sentries guarding the outer doors, who drew to attention at her approach and made her realise that even with her hair masked she was still recognisable. But this was because she was in the Palace, she reminded herself. At the airport, among a lot of other people, she hoped her identity would go unnoticed.

How would Sir Donald manage about her passport? Would he have to enlist Louis's help? Her heart hammered loudly in her ears and she swallowed several times as she paced the courtyard and waited for the car. Surely half an hour had already passed? She was debating whether to phone the Embassy again when a limousine glided slowly towards her. The driver wore a uniform she did not recognise, but as she murmured Sir Donald's name he nodded and held open the door for her.

Slowly they drove through the tall, iron gates, but once on the main avenue they kept up a steady speed. Melissa peered through the window but did not recognise any familiar landmarks.

Expecting to see the British Embassy looming in front of her, she was discomfited to find the journey continuing for longer than she had anticipated and was leaning forward to rap on the partition when they stopped outside a large grey stone house with a front door marked by white columns.

'This isn't the Embassy,' she called. 'Why have you brought me here?'

Without answering, the chauffeur came round the side of the car and motioned her to get out. Nervously she did so, wondering if she had been kidnapped and debating whether or not to try and make a dash for freedom. She glanced at the man. He was close beside her, making it impossible for her to get more than a few yards from him. For want of any other solution she had to do as he bade.

Head high, she approached the front door, and as though someone had been waiting behind it, it opened and she stepped into a pine-panelled hall and saw Alexi.

'You!' she exclaimed.

'Welcome to my home, Your Highness.' He bowed low.

'Why have I been brought here, Alexi? I was going ‑' She stopped, reluctant to continue.

He appeared not to notice her hesitation and opened a door on her right, beckoning her to enter.

'Is Sir Donald here?' she asked, and stepped inside.

The door closed behind her and she found herself in a room so brightly lit that she blinked. As her vision steadied she saw she was not the only occupant. A man was there too; a wild-eyed, haggard-faced man whom she barely recognised as Louis. If she had thought him tired when she had seen him earlier, he looked totally exhausted now: his face puffy, his tanned skin grey.

'What are you doing here?' she asked.

'I've come to talk to you.'

'But why here?'

'I didn't want it to be at the British Embassy— nor the airport,' he added. 'In Alexi's home we can have privacy.'

'We have nothing to say to each other. You have made your decision and I have made mine.'

'I know why I made mine,' he replied, 'but I don't understand the reason for yours.'

'You can't be that stupid,' she cried, and saw him bite his lip. 'I'm sorry, Louis,' she said quickly. After all, he was a prince, and though she despised him she must not forget his rank. 'Please let me leave now. It's a waste of time to go on talking.'

'Are you angry because I refused your money?'

'Why should you take it when you won't need it? From now on you will have more than enough.'

'It wasn't the money alone that prompted my decision. It was something I should have done months ago—would have done too, if I hadn't been a coward.'

'What gave you the courage?' she asked sarcastically.

'You.'

This was more than she could tolerate. 'If that's your idea of a joke ‑'

'Do you think I can joke about something so important? I love you, Melissa. Don't you know that?'

He stopped and looked at her, as though hoping she would say something. But astonishment had robbed her of speech. This was the last thing she had expected to hear Louis say. Perhaps she had imagined it? Heaven knew she had wanted to hear him say it for so long that the stress of the last few days might easily have played havoc with her mind. Yet staring into his face she knew her mind had not played her false, for he said the words again, his lips trembling as if he found it hard to control them.

'I love you, Melissa. I want to live with you for the rest of my life.'

'No!' she cried. 'It isn't true. If you love me, you could never have...' Her voice broke and she struggled for words. 'I wanted Motavia to be free— and you too—not to become a puppet prince!'

His lips set into a thin line. He seemed to have forgotten his declaration of love and looked instead like a man prepared to do battle.

'Do you think I signed my country over to slavery? Is that why you're running away?' He saw the answer in her face, and his own grew bleak. 'It is enlightening for me to know you have so much faith in my ability to do what is right!'

'Don't let's argue about right or wrong,' she whispered. 'We must agree to differ.' She turned to leave, but he stepped in front of her.

'So Sir Donald was right. You and I have been talking at cross-purposes ever since I got back to the Palace.'

'You've seen Sir Donald?' She felt her cheeks lose colour. 'So that's how you found out I was leaving Motavia! He had no right to tell you.'

'He didn't see me to tell me that.' Louis hesitated. 'I had a meeting with him on another matter and I arrived at the Embassy soon after you had spoken to him on the telephone. But it wasn't until after my own discussion with him that he told me about it.'

'I don't seem to arouse much loyalty in the people I know,' Melissa said huskily.

'Don't think harshly of him,' Louis said at once. 'He only told me you were leaving Motavia when I said I loved you.'

'You admitted that to him?'

He half smiled. 'It wasn't a very royal thing to do, I suppose! But these past hours have knocked protocol for a loop. Pride no longer matters when one realises that only by the grace of God was one able to avert a civil war.'

Consternation overcame Melissa's personal anguish. 'So that's why the Prime Minister came to see you—why you left the Palace in such a hurry.'

'Yes. But it's all over now and we have won. The Armed Services remained loyal to me and the Opposition have been routed.'

'But why did they revolt? I thought they wanted you to accept Krassky?' Bewildered, she paused. 'I don't follow.'

'So I see.' Gently he led her to the settee. He sat beside her, his body so close that his leg touched her skirt.

'Hear me out, Melissa. If you want to leave me afterwards, I won't stop you.' He glanced at her. 'When I returned to Rothnik today I had made up my mind to ally myself with the West. I thought I had made that clear to you during the few minutes we had together at the Palace, but from what you told Sir Donald over the telephone, you believed I had thrown in my lot with Krassky. I don't blame you for thinking it. I blame myself. If I had told you weeks ago that I loved you, you wouldn't have doubted me.'

'Yes, I would,' she cried. 'I don't believe you now! I'm not blind, Louis.' Anger blazed from her face. 'I saw Elise at the Palace less than an hour ago. How can you expect me to believe you don't love her?'

'I had to pretend,' he said swiftly. 'I had to hide my feelings even though the sight of her disgusted me.'

'Since when?' Melissa said scornfully.

'Since I married you. Then I was so bewildered by my feelings I didn't know what I felt. But on our honeymoon—that day in the cabin—I was absolutely sure.'

Painfully Melissa swallowed. 'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Admit I had fallen in love with a girl who had married me because I was a prince?' His look was wry. 'That was something I had to come to terms with. And it wasn't easy, Melissa.'

Again she swallowed. 'But when we came back from the lodge you returned to Elise.'

'I had no choice. Alexi had found out she was in Krassky's pay and ‑'

'You mean she was a spy!'

'Let's say she had no loyalty to Motavia,' he said grimly. 'It seems her late husband was not as rich as everyone believed, and when Krassky discovered this—people of his type always know where to find other people's Achilles' heels—he offered to help her if she would help him to get what he wanted.' Louis sighed deeply. 'I made such a fool of myself over her that she believed she had the power to make me do anything she wanted.'

'I thought she could too,' Melissa said tautly.

'I know you did—and that was the hardest part of all—forcing myself to go on with the pretence. But I had to go on seeing her—to make her believe I was still deciding which way to take Motavia. I had to play along with her until I was confident I could cope with the Opposition Party.'

'And you have,' she sighed.

'Yes, we have finally won.'

'But Sir Donald,' she murmured. 'How did you know he was here?'

'I didn't. When the revolt was put down I asked Alexi to arrange for me to fly to Britain to see your Foreign Secretary. When we learned he was already here, I went straight to see him. That's when he told me you were leaving Motavia.' Louis moved closer, his body warm against her side. 'If you go, I cannot come after you. I will be needed here till peace is fully restored and all treaties have been signed. But afterwards I will follow you and I won't rest until I've made you fall in love with me.'

'I'm surprised you can love a little hunter!'

'Don't say that! Sir Donald has told me the whole story.' He caught her hand. 'There was so much about you I couldn't understand. I felt you to be one kind of person, even though you were acting like another.'

'I was playing a part too,' she admitted. 'Thank heavens it's over.'

'Only part of it is over,' he said. 'Stay at the Palace, Melissa. Give me a chance.'

'Elise is at the Palace.'

'Not now,' he declared loudly. 'When she heard the revolt was lost she came to find out what I was going to do.' A grim smile turned up one side of his mouth. 'She found it difficult to credit I had been as good an actor as she had been an actress!'

The words gave Melissa some satisfaction, though not as much as she would have liked, and the doubts in her mind were reflected on her face.

Seeing them, Louis sighed. 'Most young men fall unsuitably in love at some time in their life. It usually happens when they're young. Unfortunately I spent my youth learning how to be a prince, and the foolish things I should have done in my teens I didn't do till my twenties. That's why Elise turned my head.' He paused. 'Then I fell in love with you, and it made me see how shallow Elise was.'

Melissa tried and failed to get comfort from what Louis was saying. 'She still remained your mistress and she still went away with you this week.'

'Krassky invited her. I didn't. And she ceased being my mistress from the day I married you.'

'You can't expect me to believe that!' Melissa burst out. 'Elise isn't a fool. You were her lover before. What excuse could you have given her for not continuing?'

Louis's head tilted, and there was a gleam in his eyes. 'You're jealous.'

'Of course I'm jealous!'

'Darling!' he cried, and leaned closer.

'Don't touch me! You haven't answered my question yet. If you had to pretend you still loved Elise, surely that meant you were her lover?'

'No...' He looked discomfited. 'I—er—I made her believe I was impotent.'

Melissa's mouth fell open and Louis grinned.

'I told her my impotence was due to guilt. That I regarded marriage as a sacred bond and though I knew my marriage to you wasn't a real one, I was still aware of being your husband.' He flung out his arms. 'You have no idea the psychological claptrap I came out with in order to make her believe me!'

'You'd better not try it with me,' Melissa said, and giggled.

Hearing it, Louis pulled her into his arms. 'If I had been more sure of you,' he whispered, 'I would have told you weeks ago that I loved you.'

'I'm glad Sir Donald was indiscreet.'

'Even if he hadn't been, I'd have soon guessed the truth. Before I left Rothnik the other day, I had a feeling you were starting to love me.'

'How did I give myself away?'

'When I told you I had let Krassky think you were pregnant, there was a look in your eyes that made me think you wished it was true.'

'I did—I do,' she mumbled, and felt his grip tighten.

'We'll make it come true, Melissa,' he said with passion. 'But not yet. First I want to have you to myself. We'll go away for another honeymoon—a real one this time.'

'Oh, Louis, I still can't believe you love me.'

'I love you for what you are,' he whispered. 'And I do not require your personal fortune.'

'Sir Donald told you that too? Oh, I wish he hadn't.'

'I'm glad he did. We must not have any more secrets between us.'

She dimpled up at him. 'What a pity Uncle Henry can't see us. We'll have to call our first child Henry—or Henrietta!'

Louis's arms tightened around her, his body was throbbing and she felt the fast racing of his heart. It made her realise the stress he had been under and she was overcome with tenderness for him. Suddenly he was no longer the glamorous Prince of a fairy-tale country, but a man who had faced political intrigue as well as strife; who had found himself in the centre of a power struggle and had had to play a lone and devious game in order to give himself the time he needed to rout his enemies. But those enemies still existed: might even now be plotting his downfall if not his life.

'I love you, Louis,' she cried. 'I don't care about your being a prince. I would be much happier if you weren't!' She clung to him. 'You're so vulnerable, so open to attack.'

Sensing what she meant, he gave her a little shake. 'The leaders of the Opposition Party have been granted an amnesty, and I intend to offer them jobs in the new Government. It's better for the peace of my country if I try to love my enemies. I believe there's a proverb for it.'

'Love turneth away hate,' Melissa whispered. 'But you'd better not apply that to Elise!'

'All my love is yours. It always will be.' He touched his mouth to hers and then drew back.

'Let's go home. Once I start to kiss you I won't be able to stop.'

'That could cause trouble,' she said solemnly.

'That reminds me of an old English saying,' he said equally solemnly.

'What's that?'

He grinned. 'May all our troubles be little ones!'

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