William Monk 07 - Weighed in the Balance

observation. He had done so himself when he had stayed there before. He had certainly done it in Venice and again in Felzburg.
    He also heard from each servant individually of the glamour, the laughter and the excitement of the weeks Prince Friedrich had been staying.
    “Terrible tragedy, that was,” Nell, the parlormaid, said with a sniff. “Such a beautiful gentleman, he were. Never saw a man with such eyes. An’ always lookin’ at ’er ’e was. Melt your ’eart, it did. Ever so polite. Please an’ thank you for everything, for all ’e were a prince.” She blinked. “Not that the Prince o’ Wales in’t ever so gracious too, o’ course,” she added quickly. “But Prince Friedrich were … such … such a gentleman.” She stopped again, realizing she had made it worse rather than better.
    “I’m not going to repeat what you say,” Monk assured her. “What about the Princess Gisela? Was she as gracious?”
    “Oh, yes … well …” She looked cautiously at him.
    “Well?” he prompted. “The truth, please, Nell.”
    “No, she weren’t. Actual, she were a right cow. Oh!” She looked mortified. “I shouldn’t ’a said that … the poor lady being bereaved, an’ all. I’m terrible sorry, sir. I did’n’ mean it.”
    “Yes you did. In what way was she a cow?”
    “Please, sir, I shouldn’t never ’ave said that!” she begged. “I daresay where she come from folks are different. An’ she is a royal princess, an’ all, an’ them people in’t like us.”
    “Yes they are,” he said angrily. “She’s born just the same way you are, naked and screaming for breath—”
    “Oh, sir.” She gasped. “You shouldn’t ought to say things like that about them as is quality, let alone royal!”
    “She’s only royal because a petty European prince marriedher,” he said. “And gave up his crown and his duty to do it. What has she ever done in her life that was of use to anyone? What has she made or built? Who has she helped?”
    “I dunno what yer mean, sir.” She was genuinely confused. “She’s a lady.”
    That, apparently, was sufficient explanation to her. Ladies did not work. They were not expected to do anything except enjoy themselves as they saw fit. It was not only improper, it was meaningless to question that.
    “Did the other servants like her?” he asked, changing his approach.
    “In’t up to us to like nor dislike houseguests, sir. But she weren’t no favorite, if that’s what you mean.”
    It seemed a moot point. He did not quibble.
    “What about the Countess Rostova?” he asked instead.
    “Oh, she were fun, sir. Got a tongue on ’er like a navvy what mends the railways, she ’as, but fair. Always fair, she were.”
    “Did she like the Princess?”
    “I should say not.” The idea seemed to amuse her. “Look daggers at each other, them two. Not but what the Princess usually got the best of it, one way or another. Made people laugh, she did. Got a wicked way wi’ mocking people. Knew what their weaknesses was and made fun o’ them.”
    “What was the Countess’s weakness?”
    She did not hesitate. “Oh, ’er fondness for the young Italian gentleman—Barber something.”
    “Florent Barberini?”
    “Yes, that’s right. Terrible ’andsome, ’e were, but taken with the Princess, like ’e thought she were something out of a fairy story … which I suppose she were.” For a moment her eyes softened. “Must be wonderful to fall in love like that. I suppose the Prince and Princess’ll be remembered through all ’istory—like Lord Nelson and Lady ’Amilton, or Romeo and Juliet—tragic lovers what gave up the world for each other.”
    *   *   *
    “Stuff and nonsense,” Lady Wellborough’s maid said briskly. “She’s bin reading them penny books again. I dunno why the mistress lets ’em into the house. Fill young girls’ heads with a lot of silliness. Bein’ married in’t all gin an’ gaspers, like my mother used to say. There’s the good an’ the bad. Men is real, just like women is. They get sick an’ ’ave ter be looked after.” She sniffed. “They get tired and bad tempered, they get frightened, they’re mortal untidy, half o’ them snore enough to wake the dead. And once you’re in marriage there in’t no getting out of it—no matter what. Them daft young girls wants to think a bit before they go chasin’ dreams because they read a silly book. Don’t do to teach some o’ them reading.”
    “But