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Alliance.
    Inside the Abbey the air was stiflingly warm, filled with the scents of perfume and incense. The church
    blazed with candles, their flames adding to the heat There was a constant rustling as the standing
    spectators shifted position, overheated in their ceremonial silks and jeweled velvets.
    James Charles Henry David Robert Stuart, Prince of Wales and Duke of Gloucester, stood before the
    Archbishop of Canterbury, awaiting his bride with a good impersonation of impatience. He was dressed
    entirely in white satin and silver lace, against which his chestnut hair and grey eyes shone to advantage. A
    coronet of rose gold, newly-commissioned for the ceremony, rested upon his perspiring brow.
    Supporting him upon this occasion were his four brothers in marriage, for Prince James was the youngest
    of five, and the only boy. His four sisters had married, variously, Leopold, a prince of
    Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; Duncan, a Scots laird of that country's ancient royal line; Alexander, a Russian
    Grand Duke; and Earl Drogheda of the Anglo-Irish nobility. Their marriages, much as Jamie's own, had
    been made for political reasons, for the web of kinship among the nobility was a web of expediency, as
    well. Three of the groomsmen were in their uniforms, and that was a sore point with Jamie also, for he
    had long been denied the chance to serve in Britain's army. Over the past months it had become clear
    that soon King Henry must permit his army-mad heir to go to war, or else go himself. The scope of the
    conflict expanded every year, and Wessex suspected that in generations to come, a man's measure
    would be taken by the list of his triumphs in this great contest.
    But at this moment, all matters of battle and empire were forgotten, as Jamie's bride made her
    appearance at the head of the aisle.
    Princess Stephanie Julianna of Denmark was tall and fair and hoydenish, but today even the most
    precious high stickler could find no fault in her appearance or conduct. Her wedding dress was of pale
    gold silk, oversewn with pearls and brilliants. Her train was edged with the same lace that made up her
    veil, and both stretched for yards behind her. These items were managed by eight of her Ladies in
    Waiting in full court dress, among them the Duchess of Wessex.
    Today the princess would exchange her Danish tiara for an English crown, and those who had brought
    her to this place all breathed a grateful sigh of relief. Up until the very last moment it had been possible
    that the princess's madcap sense of humor would lead her to elope once more, leaving her household to
    search for her in vain. That would mean the ruin of the treaty, for her brother, Prince Frederick, was a
    profoundly humorless man. But in a few short moments the ceremony would be completed, and the
    Danish Minister waited in a private chamber within the Abbey itself to present the treaty for the Prince
    Regent's seal.
    Stephanie reached the altar and stopped. Her ladies in waiting arranged her train and withdrew to the
    side.
    The Archbishop pronounced the words of the ceremony, and as he did, the air of expectation among the
    onlookers grew. Few of them would ever participate in a magic greater than this—the joining of a Prince
    of the Blood Royal to his bride.
    At last the vows were exchanged, the rings blessed and presented. As Prince Jamie sealed his promise
    with a kiss, the word was passed to the waiting citizenry, and the crowds that had been gathering in the
    streets since midnight erupted in wild cheering.
    And the thing was done.
    The Prince and Princess were presented to King Henry, both kneeling to him as his subjects. There was
    a moment to sign the book, and then the newlyweds promenaded from the church to be escorted back to
    St. James Palace through streets filled with cheering humanity.
    The Palace of St. James was located between St. James Park and Green Park, just south of Westminster
    and the Houses of Parliament. To its east, Buckingham House had been