Part 9 (1/2)
As I pushed it around my plate, pretending to eat it and wondering if I could drop it under the table, I remembered what I had pushed to the back of my mind until now-the figure who had climbed up the castle wall. I wanted to ask Matty about it, but one can hardly say at a royal banquet, ”By the way, do you have creepy things that climb up your castle walls?”
Instead I said, ”So I hear there are legends of vampires a.s.sociated with this castle, Your Highness.”
”Vampires?” And she gave a peal of laughter. ”Oh, yes, absolutely true. Half our family are vampires, aren't they, Siegfried?”
Siegfried frowned. ”Since our family originally comes from Germany, that would be hardly likely. However, there are many legends a.s.sociated with this castle,” he said in his prissy way of talking. ”Of course the castle was built by Vlad the Impaler, whom the peasants regarded as being in league with the devil, and it is said that the Dracula tale began here. The local peasants are very superst.i.tious. Ask them and they will all tell you of a relative who was bitten by a vampire or met a werewolf. They won't venture out at night, you know, and if anyone dares to venture forth after dark then it's said that person has to be in league with the undead.”
”Ah, so that explains the way they crossed themselves when we stopped at the inn at the top of the pa.s.s,” I said.
”So primitive and illiterate,” Siegfried said. ”I told Maria Theresa that she should set an example of modern behavior by having her wedding in the capital, but she wouldn't hear of it. She always was a hopeless romantic.”
I personally wouldn't have called the castle a romantic spot but I dared to ask, ”So do any of these undead creatures climb up castle walls?”
”Castle walls?” Matty asked sharply. ”I hope not. I sleep with my window open.”
Siegfried laughed mirthlessly. ”I believe that vampires are reputed to climb down walls, headfirst. But do not worry, you will be quite safe-as safe as you are at your own castle in Scotland, which I understand has its share of ghosts and monsters.”
He turned back to Max and I looked across at my mother. She was in a sulky mood because there was n.o.body near her to charm. But I saw her looking down the table on several occasions and decided that she was showing interest in Anton. That might prove interesting, watching Belinda and my mother compete for his attention. Of course Mummy was hampered by having Max in tow. Not that that ever slowed down Mrs. Simpson! Amusingly Field Marshal Pirin seemed to think that Mummy was making eye contact with him and he raised his gla.s.s to her, leering over it seductively. Mummy shuddered.
”Who is that awful man? He looks like the wicked baron from a pantomime.”
”He's the head of the Bulgarian army,” I said.
”How terribly democratic of them, inviting soldiers to the royal palace.”
”I gather he wields a lot of power and has to be humored,” I said.
”I don't intend to humor him,” she said. ”He keeps looking at me as if he's mentally undressing me.”
”Who wishes to undress you?” Max demanded, suddenly showing interest.
”n.o.body darling, except you,” Mummy said quickly. She waited until Max had resumed his conversation. ”His English has improved almost too well now. I liked it when he only understood what I wanted him to.”
Field Marshal Pirin obviously had no sensibilities about eating venison. He too had a leg, which he now picked up in one hand while brandis.h.i.+ng a winegla.s.s in the other and taking alternate bites and swigs. I felt sorry for Nicholas and Anton if they were stuck with him as a frequent dinner guest at home.
Dinner finally came to an end and we ladies were led off to a salon while the men indulged in cigars and schnapps. Lady Middles.e.x intercepted me. She was dressed in a fearsome black gown, topped with a helmetlike affair that was no doubt intended to inspire awe among the inhabitants of the colonies. The effect was not unlike those suits of armor I had pa.s.sed in the corridors.
”Ah, there you are. All settled in, then? Jolly good. Jolly good. We'll be off in the morning. The princess is kindly arranging for a car.”
”Is Miss Deer-Harte not feeling well?” I asked, not seeing her among the ladies.
”She's right as rain, as far as I know, apart from being jumpy about staying in a place like this. I had a tray sent up to her room. She couldn't very well be allowed to join a glittering company like this for dinner, could she. She's only a companion.”
”Here we are, then, isn't this jolly?” Matty came up to me, her arm linked with Belinda's. ”I see you've made quite a conquest there, Belinda. Anton couldn't take his eyes off you all through dinner.”
”Belinda's hobby is making conquests,” I said. ”She has left a long stream of broken hearts across Europe.”
”I hope not,” Matty said. ”Fun is one thing, but broken hearts quite another. I hope I never have to break another heart as long as I live.”
As we came into the room I saw a group of middle-aged women, dripping with jewels and furs, examining us critically-or rather it appeared as if they were examining me. They beckoned me over to them.
”You are the Lady Georgiana from England, correct?” one asked.
”Yes, I am.”
”Relative of British king?”
”Yes, my father and he were cousins.”
She looked at the other ladies and nodded. ”Is good. English king has much power.”
”So tell me. You know Prince of Wales?” one of them asked. She was dressed in the height of fas.h.i.+on with a sleek cap of Marcel waves and brilliant red lips.
”Yes, I see him often.”
”One hears he has a new mistress?” she asked. ”An American woman? A commoner?”
”I'm afraid so.” There was little point in denying it if the rumor had already reached Romania.
”What she is like, this woman?” my inquisitor persisted. ”She is beautiful?”
”Actually not. Rather boyish in features and figure.”
”You see.” The woman turned triumphantly to her friends. ”What do I tell you? Secretly he prefers boys. He will never marry and make a good king, that one.”
”Oh, I'm sure he'll do his duty, at the right time,” I said.
”The right time? My dear, isn't he already forty? The right time was twenty years ago. It was suggested then that I might be a suitable match for him. But alas, he showed no inclination. Fortunately I married my husband, the count, instead and he still keeps me satisfied in bed, which I'm sure poor Prince Edward could never do.”
Her friends laughed.
”They say English men are cold, no?” another of the women asked me. ”They cannot feel pa.s.sion because they are sent to the boarding school too early. You will do well to select a European husband, my dear. More fire and pa.s.sion.”
”Not all of them, remember, Sophia,” the first woman said, giving her a warning glance that I couldn't understand. ”Maybe the English lady does not want fire and pa.s.sion. She may be content with good companions.h.i.+p.”
They were laughing at a secret joke and I looked around uneasily. Suddenly I had the same feeling I had experienced on the station-someone was watching me. There were several archways along one side of the room and the pa.s.sage beyond them was in darkness. I thought I could make out a dark figure standing just beyond the archway, but then it could have been the carved stone, or even a suit of armor.
At that moment the men came into the salon to join us. Nicholas came right over to Matty and me. Anton made a beeline for Belinda, and Field Marshal Pirin for my mother, which made Mummy decide that she was getting one of her headaches and excuse herself.
”Didn't you tell me there is an oubliette in this castle?” Anton said to Matty. ”We should push Pirin down it. Really the fellow is too much. Did you see his behavior at dinner? Completely boorish.”
”Much as I'd like to take up your suggestion, you know he has to be humored unless you want civil war or worse,” Nicholas said. ”And Father relies on him.”
”Relies on him too much,” Anton said. ”He's getting too big for his boots. If you ask me the man is dangerous. He's using us for his own ends, Nicky. He sees himself as a future dictator, another Mussolini.”
”You don't need to worry about it,” Nicholas said. ”You can go back to your delightful existence in Paris. I might have to deal with him someday when I become king.”