A Dangerous Disguise Read Free

managed to teach it to me."
    "You seem to have thought of everything."
    "No, I haven't thought of anything at all. I'm making it up as I go along. That's the fun."
    "And when something goes really wrong?"
    "Nonsense," said Ola blithely. "How can anything go wrong?"
    *
    It was Ola's first experience of sleeping on a train, and it was like being rocked to sleep in a cradle. She awoke feeling refreshed, and sat looking out of the window at the English countryside rushing by, until they reached Euston Station, where trains from the north arrived in London.
    To someone used to living in the country the huge station, with its vast stone arch, was a shock.
    "I didn't know there were so many people in the world," Ola confided. "What do we do now?"
    "We find a porter, and the porter gets us a cab."
    Greta's air of lofty authority was impressive, and soon she had a porter scurrying to do her bidding.
    "The Hotel Imperial, Piccadilly," she told the cab driver.
    All the sights and sounds of London seemed to converge on Ola as they travelled through the streets. So much noise, bustle and colour, and here she was, in the middle of it.
    The Hotel Imperial was the most imposing building Ola had ever seen, even bigger than the great house at home.
    The first thing she saw as she entered was a huge copy of the official Jubilee photograph. It was a three-quarters view of Queen Victoria, sitting, looking into space with gentle melancholy. She had ruled the Empire for half a century and her eyes were full of the knowledge.
    On her head she wore a bonnet, whose wide lace strings tied under her chin and streamed down her breast. Beneath that bonnet the face was round and plump, with a small mouth. It might have been insipid but for a large, sharp nose that added shrewdness and character to the whole.
    Both women stood for several moments looking at that tiny lady who dominated her age, and made strong men tremble.
    "So that's her," Greta murmured.
    "Yes, that's her," Ola said.
    She began to look up in awe at the marble pillars and lofty ceilings, until Greta muttered in German,
    "Don't do that. Remember you live in a palace, and this is nothing by comparison."
    "Yes," Ola said hastily, in the same language.
    "Perhaps it would please Your Royal Highness to sit here on this sofa while I deal with the man at the desk."
    Ola had to smother a laugh at the sight of Greta advancing on the desk as though she had a bad smell under her nose. She presented the letter from the hotel confirming the reservation, and explained that the names 'Mr. McNewton and Miss McNewton' were a cover. Her Royal Highness was travelling incognito.
    After that all was bustle and deference. The manager personally escorted the 'Princess' up to her suite, followed by a stream of porters carrying her bags.
    Once there, her 'lady in waiting' inspected the suite minutely before pronouncing it just about tolerable for her royal mistress. Ola, who had never been anywhere so luxurious in her life, struggled to keep a straight face.
    When the bags were finally in place, the manager bowed himself out and the door closed behind him. At once the two women collapsed with mirth, hugging each other, rocking back and forth.
    The adventure had begun.
    *
    Ola slept peacefully all through the night, and when she woke the sun was coming in through the sides of the curtains.
    She drew them back and saw that the hotel overlooked a park. Already there were people moving about under the trees. Men were trotting past on extremely fine horses.
    The previous evening she and Greta had dined in the suite and gone to bed early, to sleep off the long journey. Now she felt fresh and ready for anything.
    Greta bustled in to help her dress, and send a message downstairs that they required breakfast.
    "What do you wish to do today?" she asked. "Visit the shops? Travel on the underground railway?"
    "Greta, do people really go through a tunnel under the earth?" Ola asked.
    "Of course. It's been happening for over