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without
leaving an heir apparent, has made it an unpleasant place to be. It is a pretty
little country, Miss Conrad. And the people, they try to remain cheerful,
through it all. Like Mrs Oakengate, they have an indomitable spirit.”
    “I wonder why the prince
hasn’t made a claim on the throne,” said Caroline. “It seems to me – if you’ll
forgive me for saying so – that he should be there, not here, attending a
masked ball for Halloween.”
    “That is what I have wondered.
But … you will forgive me for saying so and I hope that this will go no
further,” The Count bowed his head a little and lowered his voice. “He is not
the prince I would want for Cariastan.”
    “Who knows?” said Caroline.
“Perhaps he will be like Henry the Fifth, and really come into his own when he
has taken the crown.”
    “Ah, yes, he will go ‘once
more into the breach’, and lead Cariastan into the light, yes?”
    “Let’s hope so.”
    Caroline bid the Count
goodnight and went to find Mrs Oakengate, who was at the top of the stairs,
talking in animated tones to the prince. Blake stood at the bottom, watching
Caroline with his arms folded and his lips set in a grim line.

 
    “What a pity we shan’t be
joining them in the morning,” said Mrs Oakengate, as Caroline helped her into
bed. “My days of horse riding are over. Did you see the prince making advances
at me?”
    It was a surprise to
Caroline. “No, though I did notice he pays you great respect.”
    “It isn’t respect, it’s
adoration. I think he is in love with me.”
    Rather than scoff at the
idea that a man of thirty would be in love with a woman in her mid-sixties,
Caroline simply said, “You do?”
    “Yes, he hardly leaves my
side. Of course his father was deeply in love with me, until he met the
chambermaid.”
    “Did you know her? His first
wife?” Caroline knew that the prince had asked, but wondered if Mrs Oakengate
were being discreet. Not that she was known for discretion.
    “She cleaned my room. How
could I possibly know her?”
    “I’m sure you can tell the
prince much about his parents,” said Caroline, determined to press a little
further.
    “About his father, yes. He
was a very handsome, charming man. Something of a playboy. Cariastan has
wonderful casinos, you know.   I don’t
know about his mother. The girl cleaned my room, so we were hardly on speaking
terms. Oh, she was pretty enough I suppose, from what I remember. But a
chambermaid and a prince? It was outrageous. More so I think than an actress
and a prince. At least I could have played the role of princess to perfection.
I daresay she saw him when he visited me and set her cap at him. Girls of that
class are always easy with their virtue and can be bought for very little.”
    Caroline thought about the
Cariastan Heart offered up for services rendered and wisely said nothing.
    “Oh bother,” said Mrs
Oakengate, “I appear to have left my spectacle case in the ballroom. Run and
fetch it, will you Caroline? Don’t bother me again tonight though. I’m
exhausted again.” She yawned to accentuate the point. “You can give them to me
in the morning.”
    “Then I could fetch it in
the morning.” Caroline also felt very tired. She put it down to all the running
around she did for Mrs Oakengate.
    “Caroline!”
    “Sorry, of course, I’ll it
them right away.” The idea to fetch them in the morning had seemed like common
sense when she thought it. It was just a pity it came out sounding like
insolence.
    As she made her way down to
the ballroom, Caroline wondered if she could ever learn to be the kind of
docile creature Mrs Oakengate favoured as a companion. She was not doing a very
good job of it so far. She wished she could be more like her Aunt Millie, who
was adept at holding her tongue. It was a skill Caroline had never learned,
even with Millie as a role model.
    All the other guests had
gone to bed, and most of the gas lamps in the corridor had been lowered,