Love and Apollo Read Free Page B

Princess Louise lived.
    He realised at first glance that she was very poor.
    Her husband, His Royal Highness Prince Hermes of Piracas had been thrown off his throne by a revolutionary coup and had only escaped to England by the skin of his teeth.
    He had, however, been badly wounded in the leg in the fighting which had taken place in his Palace and had died soon after his arrival in England.
    The Royal couple and their child had come away in a wild hurry with no money and had thrown themselves at the mercy of the Queen.
    She had given them a Grace and Favour house and a very small pension.
    Then, as the Duke had found out, had forgotten all about them, but he could hardly accuse the Queen of being slightly inhuman to them.
    He and his family had behaved no better.
    Princess Louise had been busy nursing her husband when they had arrived in England, and the Duke’s father, with whom she was distantly connected as well as with the Queen had shown very little interest in her.
    The Duke looked round the poorly furnished room and he thought that in making Valona a Lady-in-Waiting to his sister, he would be doing them a good turn.
    It might make up in a small way for all the years of neglect.
    The Princess came into the room and was surprised to see him.
    â€œHow very kind of you to call on me,” she greeted him. “It was delightful to see you at the funeral and I did hope for Valona’s sake that we might have the chance of meeting you again.”
    â€œIt is Valona I have come to see you about.”
    The Duke came straight to the point and Princess Louise invited him to sit down.
    When he was seated he told her that his sister Rose was shortly going to Larissa to marry King Phidias and that Sarah, whose funeral they had both attended yesterday, had been intending to travel with his sister as Lady-in-Waiting.
    Princess Louise was listening to him intently as he continued,
    â€œAs Valona is only a year or two younger than my sister, I thought that it would be very nice for them to be together.  Her Majesty has given her permission for me to invite Valona to be Rose’s Lady-in-Waiting.”
    Princess Louise looked astonished.
    â€œIt has never entered my mind that such a thing was possible!” she exclaimed.
    â€œWe will all be travelling in a battleship,” the Duke told her, “and I promise you we will look after Valona very carefully and if after some months in Larissa she wishes to return, I will make every effort to find someone else to take her place.
    â€œNaturally you will understand that it would be far more satisfactory for Rose and myself to have a relative in such a position of trust rather than a stranger.”
    â€œI understand,” replied Princess Louise in her soft voice.  “And I am so very grateful to you for having even thought of Valona.  Shall I call her down and see what she thinks about your proposition?”
    â€œPlease do.”
    He stood up as the Princess rose and when she had left the room, he looked around.
    He was thinking that as a family they had been very remiss in not taking more trouble over Princess Louise.
    The room was most sparsely furnished and in fact its only real ornamentation was the number of books in it not only on shelves but on tables and some were even piled on the floor as if there was no other place for them.
    The Duke wondered if it was the Princess who was such an avid reader or her daughter.
    The door now opened and the Princess entered with Valona beside her.
    He had only had a quick glance at her yesterday at the funeral, but now he realised she was very pretty and if she was better dressed, she would undoubtedly be hailed as a beauty.
    Valona was fair whilst her mother was dark and her eyes seemed to portray a touch of her Greek blood, which made them large and there was something definitely mystic about them.
    The Duke felt that could be expected in a Goddess who came from Olympus.
    Valona walked quickly over to