Chapter 12 – A friend at court
Joe had been told by Charlotte that the Queen had spent a lot of time writing her speech for the banquet in Amsterdam.
Standing aside in the Burgerzaal in the palace on Dam Square Joe heard it for the first time. It shamed him; not the speech itself for the Queen was a fine writer and since the Your Majesty she addressed was her dearest and oldest friend her words were not merely well chosen but also witty and warm. No, what shamed Joe was that this was the first speech in years for which Clarisse had not used him as a try-out audience. He had stayed away from her, as if to show her that he too was powerful: he could ignore her veiled invitations just as she could ignore their happiness.
Watching his Queen delivering her speech he felt an ache for her. Another reason why he had stayed away from her was that when he was around her, the spell she'd put on him made him want to hold her. When he held her, he would not be able to picture living without her.
The audience applauded Queen Clarisse's speech.
What sort of a future do we have when Genovia has more appeal to her than I do? Joe told himself. Someday someone may publish proof that we are lovers and should that damage the monarchy, Clarisse will let go of me no matter how long we've been together. Our relationship is founded on quicksand. She wants me to remain hidden and I don't even know what she will do in case Genovia would actually welcome our affair.
The Dutch national anthem was played. Joe stood straight and observed the Queen of the Netherlands. Without being beautiful she was charismatic. And arrogant, Joe thought. Back at El Chalet he'd had the impression that Queen Beatrix favoured him and Clarisse, but he now knew that she had just wanted her friend to have some fun. Wasn't it telling that she had put him and him alone, in the basement? Downstairs, like a servant. The viscountess had almost sniggered when a Dutch courtier had informed them about the room arrangements at Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague. Joe worried whether or not Clarisse approved of her friend's scheming.
Joe stood a little straighter. His ultimatum stood. Sometime somewhere he and his Queen needed to discuss it.
OoOoOoO
The first day of the state visit had taken place in Amsterdam. A foreign head of state would normally spend the night there but Queen Beatrix had made an alteration to the program by having Queen Clarisse stay in the Residence.
Despite it having been a long day the Queens enjoyed a drink before retiring.
´Amsterdam is lovely B!´ Clarisse said.
´It's magnificent,´ her friend proudly replied.
´The canal trip was wonderful. And there were so many people waving and cheering…´
Beatrix raised her glass: ´To the canals and inhabitants of Amsterdam.´
´Hear hear.´
They simultaneously rested their feet on the coffee table in between them and they laughed for they both still wore evening gowns and tiaras.
´He hasn't come to talk to you?´
´No. He's brooding in the background.´
´Dreaming of standing in the spot light?´
´When he's the centre of attention, I will lose him. You read the articles B. I am right, am I not?´
´Yes. As things stand now, you are.´
´I don't want to lose him.´
´You still might.´
´If Parliament had not agreed with your choice for a husband, you would have let Ernst go.´
´Yes. And back then I would have reasoned that another man would come my way. I'd been in love before Ernst; I could have fallen in love again. After all: a crown-princess needs an heir and a spare.´
Clarisse wanted to mention that Beatrix would have been broken hearted at the loss of Ernst, but that would no doubt trigger her friend to make her tell how she would feel should she lose Joseph. Therefore she merely said: ´And I have an heir, I know. But I still have a duty to the country and to the monarchy.´
´He loves you. You love him.´
´And there's a mountain called Tittle Tattle standing between us.´
´Make a road. Dig a tunnel.´
Clarisse shrugged and finished her drink. Beatrix asked her why her aid hadn't come along.
´She became an aunt and her marine brother-in-law can't return home yet. Charlotte wanted to take care of her sister and niece. Frankly I think she doesn't like her job anymore.´
´Oh?´
´I believe that she felt that she would have more influence.´
´So she might leave you too.´
´Too? Oh. Aren't you subtle.´
´It's my middle name. Just as yours is Stubborn.´
´Ha-ha.´
´I fear that when Joseph leaves you, even my sense of humour will never make you laugh again. I should hate that.´
Beatrix rose to get them another drink. After handing Clarisse her glass she sat down next to her.
´The first time we were at El Chalet, you made an important decision. You admitted that you wanted to be happy and that Joseph made you happy.´
´And I was stupid enough to embrace Que sera sera.´
´It was the bravest thing you've done since marrying Rupert.´
Clarisse whirled her drink.
´I'm afraid B.´
Beatrix remained silent. After taking a deep breath Clarisse said: ´I'm afraid to lose him. I'm afraid to lose Philippe. I'm afraid to lose my people. I'm afraid to be ridiculed. I'm afraid that should I chose Joseph, I'll make his life a living hell because I'm homesick and bored and hate being a Mrs.´
Relieved that she had spoken her mind but anxious to hear B's response Clarisse took a sip of her scotch.
´I run into a famous Dutch actress one day, in a shop,´ Beatrix said, ´and she addressed me as Mrs Nielsen. I can't stand her anymore.´
Beatrix looked at her friend until Clarisse gave her a feeble smile.
´I conclude,´ Beatrix cautiously said, ´that you might give up on Genovia in case your people veto your relationship with Joseph?´
´Perhaps. Provided Philippe's throne is secure.´
´Tell him!´
Clarisse made a face. ´What's the point B? What good will perhaps do to him? And apart from that: as long as people don't find out about us he is safe and so am I. I don't intend to tell the world that we are a couple.´
´It may be enough for him to know that your choice isn't set in stone. Tell him.´
Clarisse stared ahead.
OoOoOoO
When Joe left the breakfast room for the staff members he bumped into the prince-consort. Prince Ernst told him that he was going for an early morning walk in the garden and would Mr Romero care to join him?
On the palace's grounds Dutch security prevented Joe from having to guard and he felt obliged to follow the prince's suggestion.
Making remarks about the weather the prince-consort led the bodyguard to a terrace from where they had a view on the rose garden. The prince rested his hands on a balustrade and took a few deep breaths. He glanced at Clarisse's lover who stood there with his hands behind his back as if they hadn't just climbed some stairs.
´I envy you Mr Romero.´
Joe, knowing about the prince's delicate health, replied that he treasured his robust constitution. The prince, shaking his head, smiled and continued in his slow speech: ´The heart attacks I had are a blessing in disguise. I regret that they caused the Queen and the princesses to worry but otherwise they have given me what I've longed for for years. No, I envy you but not for your physical condition.´
Joe was curious but he could hardly inquire what His Royal Highness meant to say.
´Do you know that I used to be a linguist?´
Joe replied negatively. The prince nodded. ´I worked for the University of Copenhagen. I am born a Dane you see. In the sixties I studied the language skills of toddlers in an Italian orphanage. One day it was announced that the Dutch Crown Princess would be visiting.´
In the garden the two Queens appeared. They walked toward the palace.
´Do you have any idea how weird it is when royalty makes its appearance Mr Romero?´
Joe was lost for words.
´Broken things got repaired and stuffed toys appeared. Security checked the building. I had to show my pass twice before I was allowed in,´ the prince said, the wonder he had felt then still evident in his voice. ´The high guest arrived with a train of journalists...´
He shook his head.
´I half expected the princess to leave as soon as there were no photographers around anymore, but she stayed and she remained interested and kind. She talked to the children in a none-belittling way. A nervous boy hit her arm and she winked at him. And I, a forty-two year old bachelor, became bewitched by her smile. And by her beautiful Italian.´
Feeling that the prince expected a reply Joe awkwardly said: ´So you wooed her.´
Queen Beatrix gestured toward a rose bush and Clarisse bent over to smell a flower.
´Good Lord no. I didn't see the point. She was a princess. I was a boring old scientist who preferred reading and writing over mingling with people. It was she who wooed me but even on our wedding day I wondered whether proposing to her was the wisest thing I'd ever done.´
Seeing the embarrassment on his companion's face the prince quickly said: ´It was. I would have been a fool to let the woman of my life walk away. But being married to a future Queen was hard. Being married to a Queen was even harder. I was Alice in Wonderland. Nothing made sense.´
Queen Beatrix waved at her husband. The prince waved back. Joe felt as if Clarisse, who obviously hadn't noticed them before, stared straight at him. She said something to her friend.
´I remember my first public appearance without my wife. The horror. People applauded me when I got out of a car. She had to convince me later on they were simply welcoming me rather than praising me for getting out of the vehicle. I haven't done any solo performances in many years. When I'm with her, it's different. She's the centre of attention. I walk in her shadow and I get pitied for that because I'm a man.´
The prince shook his head. ´Sådan noget sludder! When I'm with her I don't feel like a complete fraud. I don't mind it that much when people open doors for me. I can even make small talk then.´
The prince stood a bit straighter. ´I'm grateful that our daughters take after her. They meet Mad Hatters and White Rabbits and they make it work. You'll meet the princesses tomorrow afternoon. My Queen planned for a reunion.´
The prince checked his watch. ´Lieveling!´ he called out to his wife. ´You should almost leave!´
Addressing Joseph again he said: ´I dislike it when I have to eat and pretend to be interested in what people have to say at the same time. When I eat I eat.´
Joe recalled that at the banquet the prince had spoken lively with Queen Clarisse, but that he hadn't shared many words with his other table partner.
´Well, it was either breakfast or lunch with the Prime Minister,´ the prince said after a while. He shrugged. ´At least Clarisse gets the worst in the morning. Keep an eye on him Mr Romero, he's a slippery fellow. ´
By then Their Majesties had joined them.
´Who is a slippery fellow Ernst? Good morning Joseph.´
´Ma'am,´ Joe said, inclining his head for both queens.
´For crying -,´ the prince started but he was stopped by a look from his wife. ´Fine fine,´ he said. He kissed Clarisse's hand, caressed the top of his wife's nose with a finger and left.
´Oh goodbye Mr Romero!´ he said over his shoulder.
´Your Highness.´
´Ernst is the name!´ the prince cried with a flourish. ´Ernst. Ernst Prince! Have a nice breakfast in the Treveszaal my dears!´
Joe stared at the prince. The Queens looked at each other and smiled.
Clarisse linked arms with Beatrix. The Dutch Queen greeted Mr Romero with a nod and the ladies walked toward the palace. Joe heard them talk but he couldn't make out the words.
OoOoOoO
After visiting the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden the Queens greeted the hundreds of people who were waiting outside. Joe studied how his men and the Dutch guards handled the public attention. In the back of his mind another issue demanded attention without making him neglect his duty.
Reunion? Was the prince-consort going gaga?
What's Tall Woman doing? Handing a present. All clear.
Queen Beatrix didn't think that her husband is nuts.
What's that? An umbrella. All clear. Vilais missed it.
Maybe in Danish or Dutch the same words are used for "You'll see them" and "You'll meet them".
Orange Shirt is slightly drunk. Capras blocks him. All clear.
English not being the prince's first language he might have mixed things up. But then: I saw the princesses already at the banquet…
An early lunch was served at the University, where the topic was the soon to be started cooperation between the universities of Leiden and Pyrus. The royal train then moved to a so called green suburb where Their Majesties and the politicians and CEO's who accompanied them received information on improving the environment on a community scale. The visit, like all visits the Queens had made, was heavily covered by the media. Most journalists were from Genovia but none of them seemed interested in making pictures of Queen Clarisse and her head of security anymore. All morning papers had published photos of General Coligny accompanying Queen Clarisse to the Dam Square Monument. Without exception the subscripts mentioned the Luna pictures and Joe wasn't sorry for it: it proved that the widowed Queen had been coupled with a man before. Still, Joe made sure not to come near his charge.
The next public appearance would be in The Hague where the Queens were to open an exhibition with works of Genovian and Dutch sculptors. Before that they had forty-six minutes to freshen up and have tea at Huis ten Bosch.
Back at the palace Joe made it for his room. He had expected to have to stay in a windowless cupboard but not only did his rooms enjoy daylight through high placed windows they were also luxurious. Perhaps Queen Beatrix felt that making him sleep in the basement was insult enough.
Just as Joe had sat down and closed his eyes there was a knock on the door. He went to answer it.
´Your Highness,´ he said, not quite able to keep the surprise out of his voice.
´Good afternoon Mr Romero, I wondered, perhaps you care for model railways?´
´Uhm. Well yes…´
´Good! My family likes it as well, but they are women aren't they?´
The prince made an inviting gesture and Joe stepped outside and closed his door.
´Princess Louise studied engineering but even she primarily cares for the little people and their houses on my layout.´
A few metres down the corridor HRH opened a door that was similar to the door to Joseph's room, except that it led, rather surprisingly, to a staircase. The prince switched on a dim light.
´It is my theory,´ he said as he slowly ascended, ´that most men prefer the technical part. Yesterday I asked count Rossano to have a look and he proved to be one of most men.´
´Aha,´ Joe contributed.
The first exit was at the top of the stairs. It opened into a corridor with framed children's drawings on the wall.
´From that room,´ the prince said as he gestured to the door next to the one they just walked through, ´there's a fabulous view on the garden. I would have liked to have it for a train room but my Queen remarked that I only pay attention to my trains in my train room so a great view would be wasted on me. She was right of course. She now uses it to house our dearest friends when they visit.´
Joe followed the prince down the corridor into a room. Despite what he had on his mind, he was momentarily diverted when seeing the size of the model railway layout.
The prince drank in his expression with a big smile on his face. ´Nice isn't it?´
Joe nodded.
Prince Ernst turned on some switches and trains started to ride. There was a lot to look at and Joe put on a smiling face. He couldn't pay the miniature landscape the attention it deserved.
´Have you designed the layout yourself?´ he asked when after half a minute the prince stopped the trains.
´I have, for the technical part,´ the prince said. ´Tracks, tunnels, crossings. But I must admit that when it was a deserted world, it wasn't half as attractive as it is now. My daughters and wife suggested me how to inhabit it.´
The prince-consort gestured toward a long table underneath a window. On it laid things like tiny cars and traffic signs that had yet to be placed in the miniature world.
´You wouldn't believe how much is for sale in the world of model trains. I make things myself also. One house or one Lilliputian alone takes many hours. I've got a map over there; let me show it to you.´
The prince and Joe passed a work-bench. Several houses Joe had learned to identify as Dutch were waiting to be painted. Delicate brushes stood in empty jam jars. On a stand with a magnifying glass attached to it there were two figures. Joe had a look at them, though he was one of most men.
´Most products are made for the German market,´ the prince remarked, ´and don't fit in a typical Dutch scenery.´
Joe straightened up and walked on, relieved to find that the prince was carefully taking a small building from a show-case and couldn't have noticed what he'd been doing.
´This is home-made,´ the prince told Joe. ´It's a real Dutch marihuana shop. I called it Lou M, after my daughters. Isn't it a beauty? Even the lights work.´
Joe nodded.
´On the map you'll see what I planned to do with that part of the track.´
The prince made a head movement toward a bare landscape in front of a small town.
Joe studied the map. ´You want -´ he cleared his throat. ´You want to make a harbour here.´ ´That's what I wanted to do,´ the prince said as he put the building back where it came from. ´My wife and daughters vetoed my plans: I'm not allowed to create heavy industry near a town. My youngest daughter suggested expanding the city with fancy office buildings, a park with moveable objects and a tramway. I rather like that idea. Oh! Is it that late already?´
´There's enough time before Their Majesties have to leave,´ Joe said without having to check his watch.
´If you ask me they want to do too many things in too little time. My Queen tried to persuade her Minister of Foreign Affairs to have the state visit spread out over four days. Of course every day of it would be as exhausting as yesterday, today and tomorrow morning, but the man said no. Had your Queen been the Tsarina of Russia, he might have agreed with a full week's visit, but there we are. Was it nice so far?´
´I'm sorry?´
´The visit. Is it a good one?´
´The program is very interesting,´ Joe heard himself say, ´and the Dutch are enthusiastic.´
´Is that security language for troublesome?´
´On the contrary sir.´
´Good! I know that my Queen looked forward to this visit for a long time.´
´So did mine,´ Joe bluffed. He imagined that Clarisse had anxiously anticipated the visit to her dear friend's country. There would have been a sparkle in her eye as she would have told him about the beauty waiting for her at the Hortus. She would have smiled brightly at him while musing about meeting the Genovians who lived in the Netherlands. His own smile faded when it occurred to him that Clarisse might have been too pre-occupied with his, Joe's, behaviour to pay much thought on the visit. She's been all alone, Joe realised with a pang. And so was I.
He found himself following the prince on the way out and he focused on what HRH was saying.
´… glad you could make it here. It is strange, but with what I learned about you, I feel as if I know you. Oh my, your expression turns stone-like.´
The prince stopped walking and so did Joe.
´My source isn't some gossip magazine Mr Romero.´
Joe tried a smile.
The prince sighed. ´It's not a picnic is it? I know all about it. Perhaps it makes you feel better to learn that I escaped to Denmark several times. According to the gossips that is. I also had an affair with a tenor, behaved arrogantly toward my Danish relatives and estranged my dear daughters.´
´That's horrible.´
The prince grimly nodded. ´After that gossip my wife had the Governmental Information Service invite some editors over to make clear such crap wasn't appreciated.´
The prince accompanied Mr Romero to the basement. Standing in front of his door he said: ´Count Rossano was a bit surprised not to find palaces in my miniature world. He nodded when I told him that to me a house is a natural habitat but frankly I doubt he understood.´
´I do,´ Joe earnestly replied.
OoOoOoO
The second day of the visit ended with a joint performance by the renowned Nationaal Ballet and Genovia's leading dance company. Joe was glad when the curtain closed. In the course of years he had learned to appreciate roses and opera, but Clarisse's enthusiasm for ballet had failed to endear him.
While Joe scanned the merry crowd in the foyer his eyes inevitably fell on his Queen, whose halter neck evening dress complimented her up to the point when Joe had to look away. His ears focused on her voice which sounded a little husky after two glasses of champagne. Beaming dancers surrounded her and to Joe they were like butterflies paying tribute to a flower.
OoOoOoO
Back at the palace Joe had a shower. It wasn't until he noticed the mirror was steamed up that he realised that the water must be running for quite some time. He dressed with care. The third time his hand touched the door-handle he pushed it down, leaving a film of sweat.
The corridor was barely lit which suited him just fine. Not knowing whether switching on the stair-case's lights would alert security at this hour he climbed in darkness. It offered no difficulties: when he'd descended earlier that day he'd counted the steps.
He had nearly reached the second landing when he felt a blast of air coming from above and almost immediately afterwards there was light everywhere.
Joe privately repeated the excuse he'd prepared for being where he was. Whoever had entered remained silent. There was a rustling of fabric and moments later on a familiar perfume entered his nose. Joseph stood motionless until the rustling stopped. Knowing he had been spotted he took the remaining steps to the landing.
Locking eyes with him Clarisse stepped down. She still wore her enticing evening gown but – only partly due to the fact that she had removed her jewellery – she didn't sparkle like she had at the party.
To Joe's surprise she seated herself on the stairs. With a gesture she invited him to join her. Joe didn't know whether he could hope or whether doomsday was near. He sat down.
…
…
Author's note: Sådan noget sludder means something like such nonsense. Lieveling means darling.