Masked Ball at Broxley Manor

the forest. When Otto wasn’t looking I put down that plate, picked up another and served myself a little caviar and a fruit jelly. Otto escorted me back to the gold salon where he procured two chairs in a corner. “Zis is cozy,
ja
?” he said. “Now we get to know each other better and you tell me amusing stories of your royal relations.”
    There was no way I wanted to tell him amusing stories. Actually, I didn’t want to sit beside him, so I said, sweetly, “You were a little late in coming to the party, weren’t you, sir?”
    “Me?” he gave me a long look of innocence. “But I have been here all the time. You must be remarkably unobservant because I believe I danced with you.”
    I didn’t feel like taking this any further. I wanted to get away, to be among people with whom I felt safe. “Oh, yes,” I said. “So you did.”
    “And I hope I was a good dancer?” he teased.
    “The best,” I said.
    The Prince of Wales, with the Simpsons in tow, came up to join us.
    “Ah, so you’ve finally met young Georgie, have you, Otto?” The prince pulled up a chair beside us and Mrs. Simpson sat in it, giving him a dazzling smile of gratitude. Mr. Simpson grunted and loitered in the background.
    “I have, and your mother was right. She is quite charming,” he said.
    “Then at least one of us had better do the right thing and get married,” my cousin said.
    “So my father keeps telling me,” Otto replied. “But I do not see why I have to do the right thing any longer. It is not as if we have a dynasty to continue. We are no longer in power. We are passé, has-beens. So why not just amuse ourselves and to hell with duty?”
    Conversation was broken off as a plainclothes officer stepped into the room. “You will be pleased to know that the man who tried to commit this heinous act is currently being driven to Southampton in a police motorcar. Our men have searched the grounds and found no accomplices, so I’m happy to tell you that it is quite safe to carry on enjoying your evening.”
    Lady Merriman got up. “Thank you, Inspector. And if your men would like to come in for some supper in the servants’ hall, they would be most welcome.”
    “Good of you, my lady,” he said, “but I think they should stay on duty around the house at least until it’s light. Just in case. We can’t be too careful where these foreign assassins are concerned, can we? Look what started the Great War.”
    “Then I’ll have some food sent out to them,” Lady Merriman said. “Tell me, do they like smoked salmon? Maybe pasties would be safer. And are they allowed to drink on duty? We’ve a very innocuous punch.” And she went out of the room before the stunned man could answer any of these questions.
    Before he could leave the room, I went over to him. “Tell me, Inspector,” I said. “What did this man you arrested look like?”
    “Nasty, foreign-looking chap,” he said. “Unshaven. Big dark fellow. Shabbily dressed. He put up a good fight too, when our lads brought him to the ground. Biting and snarling like some kind of wild animal, he was.”
    Now I was even more confused. That didn’t sound like my dancing partner either.
    Prince Otto had now come to join me. “Do not concern yourself,
liebchen
,” he said. “I am sure we are safe and all is well. Listen. The music has begun again. Shall we go and dance?”
    I could hardly refuse as other couples were now making their way back to the ballroom. As we walked he said to me, “I have been thinking. You seem to be a pleasant young woman. It is true you are not a great beauty, but you look wholesome and healthy enough. If I really must marry, then I could do worse. It will stop the family from constantly reminding me of my duty.” Then to my horror he slipped his arm around my waist and drew me closer to him. “And you would have an agreeable life with me. Berlin is a delightful city with many amusements. And I would allow you much freedom. You would even be free to take a lover, providing you were discreet.”
    “And you would be free to take a mistress?” I asked innocently.
    He chuckled. “But of course. That is how it is done with our kind of people. But at least a marriage fits the bill, so to speak, doesn’t it? It cements family ties across Europe. It provides each of our countries with a valuable connection.” I was about to remind him that his grandfather the kaiser and our King George were first cousins but it hadn’t prevented the