PRINCESS PROXY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20620, 19 July 1930, Page 9 (Supplement)

PRINCESS PROXY.

BY RUSSELL WARREN.

CHAPTER Xlll.—(Continued). Sylvia nodded resignedly. What a nuisance tlieso functions were, when .she panted to set her schemes in motion! She really had no idea that royalties had so little time to themselves, so iitllo opportynity to do :>s t hoy pleased. '"•Your Serene Highness," (he chancellor went on evenly, " has not had to sudor tlieir society much, fortunately—owing to $o king having taken an intense dislike to Princess Sophie, and to the queen, as usual, following his example, and also bej n g anxious to spend as many last moments as possible with her son." His smile was satirical. Sylvia did not reflect it. She felt rather sorry for the poor, foolish queen, whose life seemed to to a tragedy of blind and misplaced affection. "And afterwards?" "There are im more functions to-day." *' Good. Decause I want to have a talk with you, count. After luncheon will do." He bowed silently. If ho were anxious to know what she had to say to him, Jie showed iui sign of (he fact. A sudden thought struck her. "Who is lunching with me? Is it a party Ho looked frankly pu/zled, as if ho was trying to understand the meaning that lay beneath her question. "No. Your Serene Highness and Prince Boris will be en famillo." She nodded thoughtfully. " That," she told him. " is what I wish to avoid. I must, ask some other people. You, count —1 suppose I can have you to luncheon ? "

For once (lie chancellor looked genuinely hurt. A slight flush even reddened his brown, high-boned cheeks. "But certainly," he answered stiffly. "II often dined with the princess and the late prince." " Good. Then you will come and— Countess Veuosco." " I thank Your Highness. I will acquaint tho countess. But— " he leaned slightly toward her and his.tone became suddenly confidential —" Ido not see how you arc going to avoid being with the prince sometimes." Sho drew back. There was something she did not like in his wheedling tone. " I intend," she said firmly, " to avoid it always." There was a slight smile on his lips—that peculiarly irritating smile that can only be described as " knowing." He showed an inclination to resume the conversation, but she cut him short. "That is all," sho said. "Must get ready for this party." Ho bowed and went out in silence. She turned to the writing-table and. opening a drawer, dropped the princess' letters in/and closed it. She was so preoccupied that sho had not heard a soft tap and the quiet opening of the door, but sho felt tho prescene of someone in the room. She looked np in quick annoyance. Beside her, resplendant in a Bcarlet hussar uniform, stood Prince Boris.

'CHAPTER XIV. rr.LNCE EOEIS APOLOGISES. "What do you want?" Sylvia asked Sharply. Tho prince looked uncomfortable. His eyes dull and heavy-lidded, wandered from the window to tho floor, from tho floor to tho window again. His foot fidgeted on the carpet. Ho looked like ;i sulky.small boy being compelled to confess a fault. "I want"—he began, then hesitated, as if uncertain how to address her—" I want, mademoiselle, to apologise for last night. I beg your pardon. I was not—loy^lf." ■ Bis eye met hers for a moment, with an almost Vieseeching, expression. She could not tell whether ins contrition were genuine, or if, as she shrejydly suspected, Radtzkoff, hearing somehow of tho incident of the previous night, had persuaded the prince consort, as a matter of policy, to try to make, friends with her. The expression in his eyes looked sincere, and his awkwardness might be due to the /act that he was not given to apologising; confessing himself in the. wrong to a woman was certainly a new experience to Prince Boris. And yet his manner was very sullen, and his hesitating words seemed forced out of him against bis will. The only thing to do was to givo him the benefit of tho doubt, to accept his apology as sincere, even if she did not entirely believe him. Since they had to appear together before the world, apparently prince and princess, man and wife; since to a certain extent they had to work together, it would be better to be on terms of civility at least. But he must be made to understand the position clearly. It would not do for him to imagine that she was weakening. She stood facing him, her firm white hands resting 011 tho back of her chair; " Prinze," she said. " what happened last night lam prepared to—" she was going to say " forget," but substituted " ignore."

A sudden light leaped info his eyes. 2t was as she thought. He quite misunderstood her. He moved as though he were about to step toward hdr. She checked him witli a gesture. " But," she went on coldly, " nothing of that sort must ever happeit again. If you want me to be even decently, civil I f -» you, you must respect my -wishes. My ■wish, prince, is that never, in any circumstances will you try to be, will you even flllow yourself to be. ftlone with rac. 1 ' His face fell, and the sulky look'crept into his eyes again. " 1 hen you have not really forgiven me," h/i objected sullenly.. " It is not a question of foregiveness," she countered sharply, " it is for you to respect my wishes, that is all. Do you understand ? "

He/was looking down toward the floor B £<dn, watching the pointed toe of liis shiny Hessian hoot. Suddenly lie glanced lip at her, and there was something frank und ahnosl manly in his face. .Mademoiselle," he said gravely. " I will do as voti wish. I will try to win your forgiveness hy niv good behaviour. You shall have no cause to complain of my. conduct in future. I will leave you new." Ho bowed ceremoniously and strode to the iloor [n |]|,. doorway lie turned and Jor J; 1 li.ji k. JI is gaze slowly swept her iroiu head tu funt. The expression in his t'yes was unfathomable. •1 hen |IC! was frf lilt;. Sylvia, staring after his retreating fig "rle, felt, a sudden pity for him. He was •'liter all. only a spoilt hoy; sulky because Jie muld not. have tlie toy he wanted. ih'd she !)<■>:.n too hard on him? The , "' ,c o|lectin!i of the previous night, came hack. Ins utter blackguardism, the unforgettable, unloigiveal.de words he had said. No," she said, "hu deserved it. And >t w/ts necessaiy. Hut —really, there are moments when I almost dike him." And .she turned and went back into her bedii.inn. I he spijl off (if | lie king and queen was n dull enough al't'i!:••. !>. was intentionally unofficial. There; was no state carriage mid glittering escort waiting in the courtvard. iiu bands and lines of troops in the streets---onlv two perfectly polished cars—-duo for the royal personages and one,' fur a, few attendants—and the guard at the gate turned out with a, single drum. The king and queen joined Sylvia at the top ut' the steps that led down to the courtyard. - His Majesty was as silent •is usual, but obviously glad to bo leav ing Karoliu and his supposed daughter-in-law. ,'ihe queen reflected his mood fairly faithfully, but was apparently anxjous at leaving her Benjamin in* a strange country with a strange woman. Ihe princess' behaviour toward thorn, it is true, had been, though not affectionate, quite exemplary. But there had been talcs of ■hei; temper and her caprices. The queen

A BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN SERIAL, FULL OF THRILLS.

knew that, in a way, tier Boris had found 11 eoooiu in becoming Consort of Karelia; freedom from his father's tyranny. But she had serious doubts as to whether, even novy, ho was going to bo happy. I lie prince, by tho way, was nowhere io bo seen. Tlio queen looked around anxiously. ~ Where," s ], e as k C( | j n a sort 0 f i^] ea t ) is my son." Sylvia repressed a desiro to hint that ho might have fallen down a well or tumbled into the nursery fire. I expect ho will bo here in a minute." silo said carelessly. She was not Vet princess enough at heart to mind being kept waiting for a few minutes. The king was gnawing his moustache impatiently, and grumbling under his breath. The queen looked at her tearfully. ' Never forget," she pleaded plaintively, " that more tlinn anything else lie likes marron glaces. Whenever he was fractious ] always gave him marron glaces. And lie catches cold so easily," sho added inconsequent Iy. Here ho cornes," growled the king, hitching up his sword with a clatter. Jho prince consort camo huriying up through the hall. The chancellor, at equal speed but without the slightest appearance of hasto, followed him. ' Sorry I'm late," Prince Boris jerked <*if, touching his fur cap and clinking his spurs. Tho king growled something about " punctuality " an,d " princes." The queen beamed at this unusual outbreak of manners on her son's part. It was exceptional, for him to apologiso for anything. Certainly tho prince seemed to be in a remarkably good temper. liis eyes looked clearer than usual, and there was a boyish recklessness in his air that was quite fascinating. He looked as if he had settled a problem satisfactorily and saw ho further difficulties in life, as if he,had freed himself from a burden and was stepping forward light and untrammelled.

Ho talked vivaciously throughout tho drive, of horses and hunting, guns and shooting, rods and fishing; he patted his mother's hand, at which tho queen smiled fondly and tearfully; he offered his father a cigar, which the'old king, after glaring as if his eyes would burst out of his head, accepted and smoked with evident, relish, growling that he " wished he could afford to smoke Coronas." The train went off with a blare from a band, the rattle of a guard of honour presenting arms, and the flutter of the queen's handkerchief from tho window. The princo turned. away and, began to offer cigars and atfable conversation to tho officer in command of the guard, tho fussing stationmaster, and anyoue who was within distance. Sylvia watched the crowd of people who had gathered beyond the barrier and were staring hard at the royal party. Their attitude was respectful but critical. They seemed to be watching and waiting—watching, in mild surprise, in half-in-credulous appreciation, this princess who seemed to have changed her whole character since the the morning of tier wedding —waiting to see if she could keep up this new phase, or whether in a few days she would relapse into the old petulant, imperious, selfish ruler who apparently only thought of her people as toys made to amuse her, any of which she might break or throw away when she chose. Thev seemed, to Sylvia, to be poised on top of a knife edge, with warm loyalty 011 one side and bitter hatred on the other. A touch would topple them one way or the other.

"What are 1 hoy thinking?" Sylvia asked herself, and perhaps in 1 his she came nearer to the real burden of sovereignty than she had done hitherto. " What are they really thinking about me?" She knew they were not hers to make or break. She knew that the princess, or she in the princess's place, only held the throne so long as they cared to keep her there. If she pleased them, well and good. If not— The prince, having disposed of his cigars and his badinage, came clanking up. Sylvia realised in a flash that the car would be empty save for themselves. She turned hastily to someone who stood near. It happened to be a lady-in-waiting, but it might have been a maid for all she knew.

" You will drive back in my car," she commanded. The suddenness of the situation, the awkwardness of not knowing the name or rank of the woman she addressed, flurried her, and her tone was as sharp and imperious as had ever l>een that of the princess she was impersonating The lady-in-waiting lifted her pencilled eye-brows in surprise, but curtsied, and moved obediently towards the car. They went back in silence. Sylvia was not anxious to talk before a stranger, and the prince's conversational fountain had apparently run dry. It was with a sensation of relief that Sylvia stepped out of tlx? car and ascended the stairs to her boudoir. "Now," she.said to herself, "I feel I have a clear field. All these functions and fusses are over for a bit. I think I've really scared the prince into behaving himself. At- any rate, he's promised to be good. Jiadt/ofT—" She paused in her thought. ' I don't quite know what to make of -Radtozft. lie hides his feelings so completely. You can't get. at him, Whatever he says, whatever he looks, there is always something behind —something hidden." I don't quite trust, him. 1 think he's sly. But for some reason or other he does as I tell him, and 1m sure, he's amenable to reason, es, I'm sure 1 can go ahead now, get on with my plans, govern these people as they ought, to be governed, make them happy —and then hand over the sceptre to Sister Sophie and say: 'There now. look what I ve made of your principality for you.'," It. was with a light heart and a little anticipatory smile of triumph in her eyes and on her lips that she went down to luncheon. ,

The luncheon-table talk was not inspiriting. Prince Boris was not quite at ease. His only conversation in decent society was of horses and shooting, and for that lie had to have a more or less sympathetic and understanding listener. Debarred from that—for Sylvia had had little opportunity for sport, the Countess \ enesco had never had enough energy, and Count Radfzoff had diverted his energies into another channel —he onlv contributed occasional remarks, not greatly to the point which occasionally set the conversational hall in a different direction hut never sent it far. She. noticed, however, that ho drank very little. That pleased her. It really seemed ns if she might be gaming an influence over' the young mail an influence for good. Countess Venesco, looking more the replete seal than over in ample black, gabbled volubly of the previous evenings hall; how nice the hall-room looked; how nice the princess looked; how nice the prince looked; how nice the old king looked; how nice the queen looked; how nice everybody looked; how well the hand played; how'well the refreshments were served; how well little baroness this danced ; how well little niadomoise.lle th.iu danced; liovv well everybody danced in short, how perfect everybody and everything had been at that most perfect of balls. She paused occasionally and glanced almost apprehensively at Sylvia. Apparently she was accustomed to having her vocal waterfall rudely dammed by a frequent curt interjection from the real princess. As each pause failed to provoke any remark, she resumed with evident relief-and reinforced volubility, but slightly at a tangent. Apparently she found such a departure from the genpral order of things a trifle discomposing. Radt/.ofi, when the countess, stopped to eat, and so created a pause, was sententious and almost. gran<lfath:M'ly. Tie embarked upon a history of the *Koval House of Knrolin, and returned to it after each interruption'of the countess's like a serial story, with a determination that would have been tactless had it not evidently been with deliberate intentJ

(COPYRIGHT.)

It; was all addressed to the prince consort, but Sylvia know that it-was really intended for iter. Its main theme was the courage and determination of her ancestors, the stoical patience with which they accepted the horrid burden of sovereignty that was thrust upon them solely because they, and they only, could rule Karolia as it. ought to bo ruled. lie related how each one in turn devoted himself to his people, and for their sake alone scorned to throw down the cares and responsibilities of state and sneak off to enjoy a peaceful and untrammelled existence as a private citizen—a thing they apparently all sighed to do. He told how Princo John held back the onrush of the Turks that, threatened to sweep all over Western Europe; how Prince Peter 1., defeated and driven into exile by the Poles, yet returned, chased out tho invaders and freed his Jittliv country once more; how Prince Mieheal had snapped his fingers at Napoleon; how Prince Maurice had hoodwinked Bismarck, and Prince Paul had withstood the insidious blandishments of Russia. In short, lie explained what very line fellows her morganatic ancestors all were, men who obstinately did their duly in whatever position they found themselves. highmindedJy refusing to give up everything whatever that they could continue to hold.

" This." though Sylvia, " all means something. Radtzkoff wouldn't' waste time giving me u lecture like this without a motive of some sort. But what oil earth is lie driving at? What is he trying to persuade mo into now?" At last the luncheon was over. The servants had gone Countess Ycnesco was dismissed to buy a picture-hook and take it down to tho child in the hospital —a mission which, luckily, seemed to please the motherly old tiling intensely. Sylvia's altitude was earnest, her elbows on the table, her hands clasped beneath her chin, her head a little on one side. The sunlight streaming in through the window illumined her clear-cut features and touched her masses of brown hair with fugitive touches of gold. Radtzoff, with his back to the light, as usual, sat negligently, one knee crossed over the other, his finger-tips together, 'the prince consort was busy cracking peach kernels, his bristling tooth-brush hair black against the sunlit panelling of the wall behind him. But his gazo never left the girl's face. Sylvia turned to the chancellor on her right. " Tell me," she said briskly, " am I playing my part satisfactorily ? Am I earning my pay?" Radtzkoff looked a little shocked at the mention of such a vulgar thing as money; there was reproof in his tone as he answered:

" Mademoiselle, you ore very nearly perfect. So far you have made rio slips that have, not been put down to tho usual eccentricity of the princess. Ido not think a single soul suspects the imposture." Sylvia winced a little at the word, lint, after all, sho liked plain speaking. She had courage enough to look things in the face and to call them what they were. " I had thought at first,'' the chancellor v.-pnl. on, and there was sly banter in his 1 or:c, that you were too mild and genilo in your—your rendering of the part. I thought of prompting vnu to forgot your natural kinciheartedness, and to try and be inons peremptory, to try and hue that well controlled temper of yours now and ngnin. But onco or twice " —l:e spread out his hands and smiled broadly—" your tone has been nuito in the Manner of rui princess." He became serious a;;aii!. " Shall I tell you what, thn servants are saying? I think thorn r very good test. * They are saying tin', il.o princess has improved marvellously since her marriage, and they hope the improvements will continue. They do not seem to notice any real alteration—only an iinpjovement." Ho paused, doubtfully, as if a little uncertain whether the words that came to him next were wise ones, dubious as to how she would take them. His eyes sought hers questioninglv as if he were trying to elucidate some trait in her character that he did not fully understand. Prince Roris split the shell of a pe.';ch kernel with a, loud crack and the chancellor went on.

" And T, mademoisejle, say exactly I lie same. It is a great improvement. You arc—and I sav i<. with all respect—a very much foetl'T princess than the veal one. You are, of course, on ono side, of the blood. That, I suppose, accounts for it. i\t any rate, you have the sense of government. You have tho instinct for doing the right thing. You knowhow to go to the hearts of the people. Your actions yesterday—stopping the carriage, enquiring after the injured, visiting the hospital, keeping your promise, enquiring about the supposed English miss—they were all good moves." Sylvia flushed hotly. This man always misunderstood —or protended to misunderstand—her motives. Was this a doliberate, elaborate insult ? Or was he himself so heartless, so calculating ? Did he regard life so utterly as a game of chess, with every move and action a careful, deliberated move on the hoard, that he could not understand genuine feeling and sympathy and sincere impulse in other people? " They were not ' moves,' as you call them," she flashed out. "No one worth calling a human being could have done anything else. I should have been utterly heartless if I had not done the lilt In I did."

lie waved hor protest away with his airv post hit. " Nevertheless." ho insisted, " if. was good policy. It. has already mado an impression. If the princess had acted so the throne would be a great deal more secure than it is. Yes, mademoiselle, I assure you candidly tluif, you make a very good princess indeed. Cany on as you are doing and you will make Karolin contented and the throne secure for another generation " —lie paused—" if you remain here long enough," he added quickly, in an obvious afterthought. He stopped and tliero was silence. Sylvia waited for him to go on. Sho did not understand whither tin's conversation was leading. She understood Radtzkoff too well to think that it was purposeless. The chancellor never wasted a sentence. But what did it moan ? What was he driving at ? Why should he take_ sucty pains to impress upon her his opinion that sho made such a very much better princess than the real one ? Was it merely to encourage her to go on playing her part ? He did not go on, however. Instead, he turned to her, and asked with gravo deference: " You had something more to say to mo ?" She dicw her thoughts back from her conjectures and focussed them upon f lie reasons that had led her to demand this interview. " Yes," she said slowly, tracing a pattern on the fnblcrloth with her finger. " I. want to come to a clear understanding about my position here." She looked up at him quickly. lie. appeared slightly perturbed. }f«> did not quite understand her and lie hated not to understand anyone. lie Ilegan to stroke bis forefinger. " I mean this " slro went on more firmly. "Iflamto go on playing the princess, making what you call good moves, doing things to secure Ihe throne for my half-sister. 1 must be no mere figure-head. 1 must have a free hand. I have schemes, plans, ideas. I must huvo them carried out. I will give orders and they must be obeyed." lier eyes flashed, her voice rang out like a bell. The blood of a dominant race was surging in her veins and her words fell like harifmer-strokes on an anvil. "I will not merely sit, on a throne and smile, and drive about the streets and l>ow. T will govern. I will rule. I shall do it well. I know I can do it well. You and the princess and the people will be thankful for what I do. But rule in reality I must. (To be continued, daily.)