Gauging the adversary
Chapter 136
The business on Tuesday was not as tedious as Anna had expected. She had met most of the people involved before and though serious, it was less formal. The Vice Prime Minister handled the matter efficiently, without wasting any time on tedious details. She did not have to ask Anna why, because Anna had already let her know about her feelings before. Anna brought up the subject of the ex-PM hesitantly, figuring that she would be the one to know.
"There really ought to be an inquiry," said the Vice PM, who had told Anna she should call her Astrid. "But in this case we should probably just be glad that it's over. That's what the responsible authorities have agreed on. They said no third party was involved."
"Are they sure?" Anna would not like to find out later on that there was some big undetected conspiracy.
"They say they are. I believe they also destroyed some files that made that clear."
Anna looked relieved. "So he wasn't eliminated by one of our own services? Or worse, by a foreign one? It was possible."
"They say it was suicide."
"They say." There were a lot of things they would say and other things that they would not say to her, so she was not really convinced.
"I believe them."
Anna supposed Astrid would know when she was being fooled. Even if she was being fooled herself, she did not really care. The threat against her was removed and John had had nothing to do with it, because he had been with her. Whatever happened to the rest of the world was not important, Anna thought selfishly. "Oh well, if they say so."
"Your sister and I will both be new to our jobs," said the Vice PM. "Will you advise her?" She was going to be advised by an ex-party member who had been PM more than a decade ago and who was now retired, but she assumed that Marie-Celeste would also need some advice, even though she had probably received a thorough training already, just in case.
"Yes, if she wants me to." Anna did not know if she could give any advice.
"Behind the scenes."
"Yes, I'll have other things to do as well. I have to see if John and I can live where he lives now --"
"Not if you can live together at all?" the Vice PM raised her eyebrows. This girl was skipping quite a few life stages that were common for normal mortals and if anyone should ask her, she would say that too much was happening Anna at once. It was amazing that she did not break down or that she did not at least try to spread it out a little. No, it had to be handled within a week, all of it.
"That always remains to be seen," Anna conceded. They had spent some time together and she thought it would work. Besides, she loved him and that would make it easier. Or harder. She did not want to think about it beforehand. It was going to be different anyway. "But he's never irritated me yet. We're going to have to, anyway -- we've got a baby coming. The one thing that bothers me is that I have no idea how to clean a house, but I suppose John does." She had discovered a curious little list with dates on the inside of his bathroom door once that had puzzled her exceedingly, until he had told her that it was a cleaning list. It indicated that it happened regularly, but with extremely large intervals. At least he would know how to do it, then.
Eliane took her three daughters for a bubbling session in the whirlpool after dinner, to talk about the events of the following day. "Eduard won't be back until the afternoon," she said in French. "So you'll have to prepare yourselves alone." Eduard and she had to rehearse the wedding and she could not help but smile at the prospect.
"Maman, don't look as if you're pleased that we have to do it all alone," said Anna.
"That's not it!" Eliane protested. She looked at her youngest daughter. It was only a week since they had been at school for the talk with the headmaster and now Alexandra would have to miss another day. Or two, depending on whether Alexandra wanted to attend the official ceremony. "Alex, do you want to go or do you want to go to school?"
"I'm going to get into serious trouble if I skip school again," Alexandra said morosely. She did want to go. The whole family was going. And here they were sitting with her mother and sisters, which was nicer than she had expected -- it made her feel part of the group -- and they were all going.
Alex was falling victim to the family troubles, Eliane realised. At least, her schoolwork was. People would think it strange if Alex did not attend and yet if she did attend, they would criticise her for neglecting school. She put her arm around Alexandra. "It's not going to be interesting, but if you want to attend, I'm going to give you an assignment -- you can give it to your history teacher, how do you like that?"
"Not."
"I thought so, but at least then they will know that we do take school seriously but that sometimes things come up, don't they? Anna said you could do a report of the play, so now I'm saying you could do a report of this."
"You can't mean that."
"I'll give you the camera so you can take nice pictures."
"And on Thursday," said Anna lazily. She was enjoying the bubbles. She would not enjoy being photographed so much, but it was just to do Alexandra a favour and in future she would probably like to see pictures of her wedding.
"Oh, good idea," Eliane nodded. "You must take pictures on Thursday as well." That would take care of that problem. There should be a photographer, but they did not want to get a stranger. "And then you can come with us on Wednesday to see which place you can take the best pictures from."
"Me?" Alexandra said doubtfully. She would love to.
"Yes, you."
"As many as I like?" She would like to shoot lots of useless pictures too. Funny ones, that other people would not be interested in. What fun was a camera if you had to behave with it? Fine, she would do the required photographs, but for the rest she wanted to have carte blanche.
"As many as you like."
"Hmm. Alright. Do I have unlimited access to everyone?"
"What do you mean?" Eliane asked.
Alexandra giggled. "Can I take one of Marie-Celeste when she's tongue-wrestling with Patrick again in some secluded spot?" That would not be hard to do. They never noticed anyone.
"No!" Marie-Celeste cried vehemently. She wondered where Alexandra had seen that. "About our clothes tomorrow," she said briskly. "They should match so that neither of us stands out."
"You should stand out," said Anna, still giggling over Marie-Celeste's reaction.
"But I don't want to be better." In her opinion she would be making a statement if she wore something that was visibly nicer than what Anna was wearing. Marie-Celeste did not want to give the impression that she was succeeding her sister because Anna had failed.
Eliane finally decided what they should wear -- the same sort of thing, but then with blouses in different colours. They would have different hairstyles anyway, since Marie-Celeste's hair was much longer than Anna's. The girls decided what Eliane should wear too, when they inspected Eliane's closets afterwards and found a very nice cream dress in there. Alexandra seemed to be the only one who was not preoccupied with herself enough to see why there had to be a rehearsal and she insisted that her mother should wear that one. Of all the dresses it was the most like a wedding dress, but although Anna and Marie-Celeste innocently remarked on that fact, they never made the connection, thinking too much about their own events. Eliane felt she had underestimated her youngest, but she wondered why Alex did not comment on it. They could have a chat in bed and she could find out what Alex thought about it and tell her that her opinion mattered. She invited Alex to sleep in her bed, something that Alex had stopped asking for after her father died, because then her mother was always available and it was no longer special. It had happened frequently before that time -- Eliane had liked to have her little girl with her when Alexander was away.
Patrick and James had rented a few action videos and forced them and a few bottles of beer on John, saying it was his last chance to do this, ever, except the night after, but then he had to sleep in order to be awake during the wedding. They enjoyed it, despite the fact that they ran out of crisps already during the first video.
The next day he had things to arrange and to make a list of things to arrange when he got back. He could see why people chose not to marry, with all the administrative and legal changes that had to be made. He would sort that out with Anna later, whether they wanted to have community of property and joint bank accounts and all that. Was Anna insured? Would she even know if she was insured? That was just the sort of thing that she would not have a clue about. It was a very unromantic sort of exercise.
Eliane and Alexandra had talked about many things. Alexandra had said Eduard was cool enough and that she had no objections, knowing full well that she did not actually have the possibility to have any unless she wanted to oppose her mother. She had always been sensitive to people's attitudes and she knew that not many people in the Palace had been as nice and accepting to her mother as Eduard had always been. If things did not become worse for her, she did not mind if they got married, but she could already hear what her classmates would say. After a choked confession of her fears, her mother had outlined several options.
She could keep on living here with Alexandra until Alexandra would move out, but this did not seem such a good idea to Alexandra. She would be forcing her mother to live apart from her husband -- they seemed set on marrying for some reason concerning the grandchild that Alexandra did not really understand and of course because they loved each other -- because Eduard could not move in, since he had his own house that he could not sell or rent out.
Alexandra could keep living here alone, with Marie-Celeste or other family members, but although Alexandra would never admit it, to be separated from her mother was an impossibility. She had been difficult, but after her mother had threatened to turn her out of the house, she had realised she could not do without her mother.
Then, they could both move in with Eduard, in which case Alexandra would have to drive to town with him every day to go to school, or change schools to one nearer his home. She had considered the thought of changing schools and found it rather appealing. She still was not happy at her school, because after Eliane's visit only the teachers had changed, but not the students. In fact, they only started putting the blame on her whenever anything happened, because her mummy would come to school and sort things out anyway. They forgot that Eliane had come only once, when it was unavoidable, exactly because she had feared that such things might be said.
Alexandra would prefer a country school, also because it would offer her the greater freedom of living in a building that was not fenced in and guarded. Eliane had pointed out that she was still second in line to the throne and that she would not be completely free, but Alexandra had merely shrugged in her excitement and said that she would have a word with Patrick about inserting a few children between her and Marie-Celeste in the line of succession. Eliane had laughed, but she feared that Marie-Celeste would not have the time or the inclination for more than the required heir. Eliane could see her put it off till the last moment. Perhaps Alex should indeed talk to Patrick, not that she could see Patrick push a pram, but if he married Marie-Celeste, that would just about be his only role, pessimistically speaking.
The only thing that worried Alexandra was that Eduard would not like the idea. Nonsense, Eliane had said. Eduard would not mind. He had not brought it up yet, because they had never even concretely discussed a marriage, but he would know that she could not leave Alexandra behind. He would have let Eliane know if he did not want Alexandra as part of the deal. Alexandra was a little more reassured. But, Eliane had also said, he probably advocated cycling to school, since he did not have a car with chauffeur that he could send Alexandra to school in and though Messange had a real count with a castle, it was probably not on any maps of the regional public transport authorities. Alexandra wondered how she could know, but Eliane had a more mundane eye than her daughter, having grown up as the daughter of a count in exactly such a village without bus or train.
Eduard drove to the school very early in the morning to say that Alexandra was taking two mornings off for family weddings.
The headmaster was puzzled by this, since he knew about the abdication and that was not mentioned at all. "Weddings? Not the abdication?"
"That will take place after school. The weddings don't. They're in the morning."
"Whose weddings, if I may ask?" He had not heard of any that were about to take place.
"That's something I'd rather not divulge. They're private, obviously." Eduard pulled his most discreet face. "No press."
"Didn't you know about this in advance?"
"We knew on Monday, but we couldn't be certain of all the arrangements till yesterday," Eduard explained smoothly. "I'm sorry if this is causing you any inconvenience. We'll drop Alex off at school right afterwards, because we're due at the Palace anyway with regard to the abdication. She'll attend two classes today and only miss her physical education class this afternoon, but I hardly think that's important."
"And…tomorrow?"
"Much the same time schedule, but then Alexandra has the afternoon off, she's told me, so she'll miss five classes, among which physical education, religion, French and history."
"And those are not important?"
"No institute of higher education requires them," Eduard shrugged. "The Palace has its own swimming pool and tennis courts, so that would take care of the missed physical education class. Her mother is a catholic, her sister an atheist and her grandmother a witch, so Alexandra comes into contact with many beliefs. She speaks better French than the teacher and she lives in the biggest history museum in the country. Does she need those classes? She needs to be present at the weddings. I trust I informed you sufficiently?" he rose with an inquiring expression.
"And who are you exactly?" the headmaster had only heard his name, but did not know his position.
"I am…" Eduard hesitated. He was so much -- Alexandra's father's cousin, Alexandra's mother's almost-husband, Alexandra's sister's father -- and he could not choose. "...the Count," he said with a fine sense of drama. "Good day," he bowed with flair. Why not, if he was already acting like some figure from the stage?
If Marie-Celeste and Anna had thought they could trade places just like that, they were wrong. More than one foreign government leader had rung Anna up to ask what the hell they were doing, in nicer terms. Anna was getting sick of it, to the point of physically feeling a little ill. What did they care? She had the right to do this. Did they think there would be anything in it for them? Or did they think Marie-Celeste had different sympathies? As if Marie-Celeste would become some key figure. Well, Anna knew that Marie-Celeste had a tendency to do just that, but in a modern democracy it was quite useless to get into Marie-Celeste's graces if you wanted to accomplish something.
The National Mint was throwing a polite fit over the fact that they had only barely begun to mint Anna-coins when she stepped down again and that they would have to start minting Marie-Celeste-coins for the brief period of time that separated them from the arrival of the euro. They would have to change all their designs for their version of the euro and have Marie-Celeste's profile on it and everything would cost a lot of money.
The postal service would have the same problem, although they had the advantage that they could sell their products. The souvenir industry would also make a lot of money out of it, frantically producing a whole load of Anna-related objects at the last moment and passing them off as the last items in stock, rare collector's items. They were doing much the same with Marie-Celeste-objects, but in this case passing them off as complete novelties, also rare collector's items.
The girls were blissfully unaware of all this. Anna would have been perplexed to hear of the existence of something as bizarre as an Anna-eggcup, but then she had never entered the seemingly small souvenir shop diagonally across the road from the Palace, next to the Parliament buildings. She would have run out screaming if she had ever done so.
In any case, the abdication of the old queen and the subsequent inauguration of the new queen were sure to draw a lot of attention, not only from the local population, but also from tourists, male and overseas ones especially, for the girls were cute and royalty was quaint.
The Government Information Service saw its chance to make a lot of money and was planning on selling the official statement at the front gate in a glossy format with pictures of the four living (ex-)queens. That would be a rare thing in the world, to have four of them living and to have three of them so pretty. It would sell, they were certain of it.
Eliane panicked at having to do a photo session before her wedding and wondered if she still wanted to marry Eduard if he had such wonderful ideas, but he claimed that he had nothing to do with it. Or not much. He claimed that he had only been involved in the just like us, but then prettier idea. Where would they be if the public did not like them, he had said. Half the proceeds would go to the national cancer foundation, since that was what Alexander had died of. Eliane had called it blackmail, Anna had called it too commercial and only Marie-Celeste had accepted the idea without protesting. But they had all grudgingly posed for the cameras when Eduard had already left.
Alexandra had for once not felt left out, since she was included in the breakfast picture and she felt very satisfied with herself for having been confided in by Anna, who had the idea of doing something odd while the picture was taken. They were supposed to be having breakfast and if it looked as though they were doing that innocently, nobody would notice that Anna and Alexandra had exchanged necklaces in between pictures. Only the people looking at the pictures would, because the necklaces were big enough to be seen. Neither did the photographer notice -- they were not so sure about their relatives -- that when Alexandra passed the sugar to Anna, she very clearly received a banknote in return. In case this had not made it onto film, they passed each other the sugar several more times.
After breakfast, Eliane and Alexandra left for Eduard's house. Anna and Marie-Celeste thought they were going to rehearse or arrange things, but they did not stop to think about it. They had other things to do -- to hear about the phone calls and to receive more of them, to do some work, exercise a little.
Everything had been carefully and neatly arranged. The flowers were in place, the chairs, even the refreshments. There was less use for them today, but they would still like to eat and drink something. It took Eliane and Mrs. Seton nearly an hour to set it all up, while the men had walked out with the dog to collect the Mayor and some pastries, both of which could be found in the baker's shop. The Mayor called this keeping in touch with the public and he undoubtedly based his policies on what he heard there, but Eduard was also inclined to call it putting on a waistline.
The Mayor cleared his throat. "We are together here today for the marriage between this young couple --"
Mrs. Seton was in danger of hiccuping or snorting or something in between. It was supposed to be a realistic rehearsal, but this was turning out to be comical. She loved Eliane's dress and wondered if Eliane really thought that people would be fooled by that or by the fact that Alexandra was taking pictures even today. Now, she knew that Alexandra was not focusing on the rehearsing couple alone and that she had a talent for snapping pictures of things that the ordinary person was likely to miss, such as her husband's preference for showing his affection right before his words seemed to contradict it. Eliane had not quite figured that out yet, but then she would only turn to look at Thomas after he had spoken and not before, and then Eliane would look back at her with pity and understanding at this indifference that Thomas was showing her. Perhaps she should let Eliane in on the secret. It was really no wonder that she did not see it -- while he was far from exuberant, Eduard did not hide anything, perhaps he even exaggerated a little to draw Eliane out, and her first husband had probably been just as indifferent as he had seemed to be.
The Mayor got the hint. "Should I say John and Anna -- or should I say Eduard and…" he paused, not sure how to take this as realistic as possible rehearsal. Realistic down to the license, so he suspected that it was no rehearsal at all. Who were they fooling?
"Eliane," she supplied helpfully.
"Eliane." He read out the speech he had prepared and performed the ceremony according to the book, ending with the rings -- they even have rings? -- and pronouncing them husband and wife.
They did not kiss each other. "Thank you, Marc," said Eduard. "I daresay it will go well tomorrow."
"I always congratulate the bride and groom afterwards," said the Mayor, extending his hand. "Congratulations, Mrs. De Trigny." Young brides always liked to hear their new name, but in this case the bride was neither young, nor unaccustomed to wearing the same name as her husband's. It did not matter -- the smile was the same. He shook hands with the rest of them and then returned back to the village hall, after having been reassured privately by Eduard that there was no need to tear up the documents, but that they could be handled as in any other case of a marriage. They had paid for that, no?
"And then…" Mrs. Seton took over when Eliane did not say anything. "I suppose we congratulate them, don't we? And we all go for coffee. Who makes the coffee?"
"Me," said Eliane.
"And no pictures of the married couple?"
Eliane shook her head. "That isn't necessary." Alexandra had taken them anyway, she had noticed, but she was not going to pose especially.
"I daresay you'll look very happy tomorrow still," said Mr. Seton reassuringly. Photos might just as well be taken the day after when the sole point of taking them was to capture a happy couple. The actual point of weddings had always eluded him. He had never even feigned an interest in what feminine stuff women other than his wife were up to, but he was slightly interested now. "But you know what, it looked just as legitimate a ceremony as ours."
"Oh really, Thomas?" asked his wife. "Do you mean we're legally married?"
"Well, fortunately we are, or we would have had to do it right now as well, before the grandchild is forced to speak about his grandma and her boyfriend." He gave Eduard a meaningful glance. "I hear you play golf, but isn't that damn boring? Have you never considered…"
Mrs. Seton stared after them in exasperation as they walked away. "Please don't pity me, Eliane. There's no need."
"I know," Eliane smiled. "If I pitied you, I'd have to pity Anna, shouldn't I?" She had noticed a remarkable similarity between some of the male Setons.
"Quite right. No wonder with such a father, hmm? But they have a mother," said Mrs. Seton and then looked dubious. "Well, with very little influence in that regard. I never stimulated them to behave differently, because I usually understood their ways. Other people might not."
"Is Maman going to live with you here?" Alexandra asked Eduard, trying to introduce the fact that she did not want to return to school today because she wanted to change schools anyway. If she was not going today, they did not have to hurry so much.
"Remember that we're supposed to think this is a rehearsal," Mr. Seton whispered to her and she giggled. "You should ask if they're going to rehearse living together to see if John and Anna can."
Eduard looked a bit startled. "Uhh…" He had considered the question, but he had not expected Alexandra to bring it up before he had even spoken to Eliane about it. But he should not forget that she had just acquired a new stepfather and that she had the right to wonder what was going to happen to her now.
"What I wanted to know is if you'd take me as well," she asked boldly. "Or if you'd rather not." If he would rather not, she would pretend to be indifferent about it.
"Oh." He had no idea if she wanted to live with him or not. Perhaps she resented the fact that someone had taken her father's place, but she was always welcome here.
"Because if you do, I want to change schools and you won't have to hurry with your coffee right now to drive me back to school," Alexandra explained indifferently. He was not exactly enthusiastic about her, it seemed.
"But we always like getting daughters," said Mr. Seton, who had more insight into children than Eduard. "Especially if they come ready made like stepdaughters or daughters-in-law. You can show them off if they're good girls, but if they're bad, it's because they're not yours. Very convenient. If Eduard doesn't want to adopt you, I'll set you up with James."
"Who's James?" Eduard asked.
"My youngest son. I can never keep track of who's his current girlfriend. It would be nice if I appointed one whose name I actually know."
"Wouldn't James be too old for her?" Eduard wondered.
"You're acting like a stepfather already," said Mr. Seton. "That's settled then, isn't it?" he asked with satisfaction. "But if you want to move in, you should choose a bedroom. My boys always had tremendous fights over who got to have which bedroom. Be quick and beat your sisters to it, or rather, your brothers-in-law." He looked at Eduard who said nothing. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, do you? A wife, three daughters and two sons? All at once?" He laughed heartily. "Good thing you're only rehearsing, isn't it? You can say 'rehearsal over' when it gets out of hand. I can't," he sounded regretful. "My wife will just say --"
"Thomas, you remember me when I'm out of sight?" cried his wife, who was just approaching with Eliane and the coffee. "I never would have guessed!"
"I never would have guessed that you could limit yourself to two sentences on that long way from the door to here," he said dryly. "Imagine finding out new things about a person after 37 years."
"37? Not 35?" she asked, because they had been married for 35 years only.
"I didn't marry a complete stranger on my wedding day, did I?"
The ceremonies went quickly. There had not been enough time to prepare much, so thankfully Anna and Marie-Celeste were spared from the showy performance that would otherwise have sprouted from creative minds. The furthest they had got to was deciding that Anna should hand over the symbols of the monarchy to her sister, something that had never happened before because a new monarch had always succeeded a dead one. Anna thought it a blessing that nothing had been prepared, but Marie-Celeste had mixed feelings about it. She would have preferred some more ostentation. However, she knew she could not have things her way as long as Anna was involved and Anna would always be involved.
Most of the family attended. They were seated on special benches, with members of the government sitting on others. One camera crew was present and that was all. It would have been too crowded if all the interested press were allowed in. However, they would all be allowed to attend the press conference where Marie-Celeste -- a first in the history of the country -- would answer questions and even Anna had agreed to make herself available, if not very enthusiastically.
This was one of the few times that the press was allowed into the Palace. There was a long queue of reporters waiting to have their press cards checked, both national and foreign. After the long walk from the gates to the Palace, they were shown into an anteroom where they could pick up a copy of the official statement in the language they desired. This had been prepared in the hopes that no unnecessary questions were asked. The big hall was filled with chairs and at the far end was the table where Anna and Marie-Celeste would take their seats. The press conference might just as well have taken place across the street, in the parliamentary buildings, but they had preferred it to be organised by their own officials rather than civil servants.
The statement did not dwell on regret or joy, since it could not be said
that one sister was better than the other, but it provided plain facts. It was
written that Queen Anna II made a voluntary choice to step down and that she
would for the time being assist her sister in carrying out her non-public
duties.
It was explained that by her abdication she forfeited any right to the throne
for herself and her children, but that Parliament had decided she may keep the
title of princess. Her children would be normal citizens unless they received a
title through their father. Princess Anna would also receive a state income
based on her activities. The height of this would have to be determined by
Parliament.
There was also a copy of Marie-Celeste's biography, which informed them that she was born on May 17, 1969, as Anna's younger sister, and then basically turned into an enumeration of the schools she had attended and the committees she had presided over. Anna's biography had more degrees and fewer committees, plus a list of state visits she had made and received.
Finally, a short explanation of the rules or code of conduct was provided, but this was not picked up by many people, as was noticed by John, who was seated on the windowsill of one of the high and narrow windows with a book. He had not witnessed the official proceedings across the street, but he had been busy here. A bright mind had conceived of the idea to let him check the English version of the official statement before they photocopied it, for which he was glad, because it had contained several mistakes. Eliane had done the same for the French version. He was now watching the crowds streaming in, not knowing whether it was his upcoming marriage or this whole circus that was making him a little nervous.
John rubbed his hands on his jeans, wondering what was taking Anna and Marie-Celeste so long. They probably had to take a sanitary break. A girl from the catering walked past with two jugs of water. He stared after her in wonder. How long did they think this press conference would last if they provided two jugs? Water was just to tantalise the audience and Anna would never voluntarily stretch an appearance.
Marie-Celeste was first, so the serious press could leave after she had spoken. The ones who insisted on talking to Anna could stay on.
"Yes," Marie-Celeste replied to the first question. "I'm a different sort of person and I will certainly interpret my duties in a different way from Anna or my father, but I'm grateful for my sister's assistance and the advice of other family members such as my mother and my grandmother who were once married to kings. Firstly…"
After Marie-Celeste delivered her clear and detailed lecture there were some questions about it, all of which she answered with the same patient composure. It was all perfect, John thought. It was good that they were not up there together, Marie-Celeste and Anna. Anna would have a hard time. He knew she was daunted by her sister's confidence. Anna walked in and did not look very nervous, but he knew that was deceptive. She could not even smile when she noticed him, but did smile a little when she and Marie-Celeste embraced and exchanged a few words. Marie-Celeste and the more serious journalists left, but then again a few more came in, so the net effect was nil.
Anna was determined to be brave and not to give them any opportunity to corner her. She was nervous nevertheless, but she tried to hide it as she sat down. "I want to start off by saying that I do not want you to devote more attention to me than to my sister and I shall not answer questions which I think would give me more attention than is justified. After all, we shouldn't look back, but ahead and while things will undoubtedly happen to me in the future, they are not important to the country as a whole and therefore I think they don't warrant any attention." A silence followed her words and she could see that they were all digesting her remarks.
"Why did you do it, Your Royal Highness?" was the first question.
Anna shifted in her seat to sit up a little straighter. She had expected that one. In fact, she had been rehearsing answers to it all through the night. Could they tell that from her tired eyes? "I don't like attention," she said, to be as brief as possible.
The press officer pointed at the next person, who stood up to ask his question. "Why not? Everyone needs attention. It's a human need."
Did they have to be so irritating? Anna frowned. "True, but I don't like attention from you," she indicated the room with her head. "And please don't give me that nonsense about my privileges that people always come up with to justify the fact that they're poking their noses into other people's private affairs," she said cattily.
There was some smirking here and there, notably from those who considered themselves to be serious journalists who did not poke their noses into private affairs. "It's only people who have something to hide who are sensitive about that, Your Royal Highness," said the next, who had obviously decided to come with a remark instead of a question.
"That's what you say," said Anna, not knowing what else she could say.
"Will you now officially confirm your relationship, Your Royal Highness?"
That was a double question, really. Apart from being meant literally, it also inquired whether she had a relationship at all. Anna did not want to make it too easy for them. "My relationship with what?" she asked innocently.
"Your relationship with the gentleman sitting in the window," the reporter clarified
Anna glanced at John. So they had noticed him, which he apparently knew, because he did not look surprised. "I don't understand your question. What exactly do you need a confirmation of?" she asked politely.
That threw the reporter slightly off balance. He did not know what to say. "Well, that you're having a romantic relationship with him."
"Why do I have to confirm that officially? It's not common practice to notify the country of a relationship. However, to please you, we'll take it into consideration to notify the country of our marriage, when the time for that arrives." She nodded at the press officer to point to the next journalist.
"When will you be married?"
"That doesn't matter much, since he won't be invited," John said in a half-loud voice, drawing some chuckles from people around him. Did that guy really think Anna would tell him? Was he stupid or something? She was doing so well so far. He was impressed.
"Next question, please," Anna gestured. The chuckles unnerved her a little. Why were they chuckling? At her? She did not have enough composure to think about a real answer.
"How serious is your relationship, Your Royal Highness?"
Anna hesitated. She was not exactly sure what was meant by that question. Would she now have to say she was very serious? But that sounded so sentimental and she disliked that. If she did not say it, however, they would think it was not serious at all. What should she say? Maybe they only wanted to know how far they had progressed.
"Well, if he'd like either of us to give it up for him, he can forget it," John said. He did not see why anyone should want to know. It was none of their business.
Anna had not heard him, but she looked in his direction in alarm when she heard and saw people laugh. "Next question," she said quickly.
Thankfully the next person did not continue the topic as the previous speakers had done. "Were you motivated by ideological reasons to abdicate?" a very serious-looking man asked.
Anna stared at him. "Ideological reasons," she echoed helplessly. "I suppose not, if I can't imagine what you mean."
"He doesn't either," John could not refrain from saying, causing the people near him to start laughing again. He wondered why they laughed, since he was certainly not out to amuse them. In fact, he thought he sounded as irritated as he felt.
"What will you do with all that extra spare time now, Your Royal Highness?"
Anna gave John's corner an uncertain glance. One woman there was in danger of choking, it seemed. What on earth was going on over there? "My spare time…?" she said absentmindedly. "Ummm…"
"Don't look at me," John said in a deflecting manner, but he was too far away for her to hear him. "I'm not going to fill all of it!" He loved Anna, but he did not think that would be healthy. He would also protest if she should sit through an entire tennis practice more than once.
"It's very distracting if you keep laughing for no reason," Anna complained. She did not like a press conference as it was and this was only making it worse. Maybe they were laughing at her and it made her very insecure. She was not that bad, was she?
"Maybe you should go and sit beside her," a reporter suggested to John. Then they could all have a laugh.
He shook his head. That was something absolutely did not want. If Anna and he competed for the title of who disliked press conferences most he was not sure which one of them would win. "I'm allergic to microphones. Not unless she physically drags me." Which would be unlikely.
Anna was displaying all the characteristics of shutting herself off. John could see she was about to become completely mute. "Oh, no," he said, not caring that he should not. It had to be because people had laughed. He knew Anna. Despite the fact that he had just said that he would never go up there unless she dragged him physically, he walked over and grabbed a chair to place it beside Anna's. The ever-present Eduard did not protest, but merely looked secretly amused, whereas Anna looked as if she was ready to hide behind anyone and if she deeply resented the fact that the table did not have a tablecloth that reached the floor. Now there was nowhere to hide except in herself. She would have dropped behind the tablecloth if anyone let her and John suspected that the absence of a tablecloth was very intentional indeed. But he should not have such thoughts about his girlfriend, he told himself, even if she was peculiar in some aspects. "It was my fault," John whispered to Anna. He had seen that she was twisting her hands nervously under the table. It had not been hidden from the public, so he knew they would also see him if he took her hand. He thought about for a split second and then took one of her hands. What did he care about what they thought or saw?
Anna's surprise had only increased after he had sat down. She felt comforted, but she did not understand what could be his fault. "Ouch," she muttered when his grip was a bit too tight. It would most certainly keep her hand from fidgeting, but it would also nearly bruise it. She could see them with a detached eye, oddly enough, and she knew he was not as comfortable as he looked. No wonder he gripped her so hard. Yet he had come to help her. That was really good of him, Anna thought, and clearly felt that she loved him -- it spread through her and temporarily blurred her vision. Slowly she relaxed.
"Next question," said John when Anna did not. "Or were you still stuck on the ideological issue?"
Anna shook her head. She had no idea what to reply to that question anyway. She supposed that if she had abdicated for ideological reasons it would have had something to do with equality, socialism or communism, or something else that she had never gone into very deeply. Yes, she believed in equality to some extent, but if she had been really radical, she would not have ascended the throne in the first place. How would she define her ideology then?
"Are you a couple?" was the next question.
John made some inarticulate sound of contempt. What were they thinking? That he would willingly sit here with a strange woman and hold hands with her too? They were just too stupid to be true and he had a great dislike of putting into words what he was already putting into action. "How many variations of that question are we going to hear today? Do you think there's a prize for the most inventive one? By the way, are there any people who don't need the answer to that question because they already know it?"
Only a few people raised their hands.
He studied them and saw that he had seen all of those people before. Nathalie was among them, just as the two young fellows who had had coffee in his flat with him. John snickered. "That's because I talked to all of you. Big disappointment. I thought it was because you were brighter than the rest or something. Not so! You just had the advantage of getting closer acquainted. Before that you were probably just as stupid as the rest." Anna wriggled her hand in his and she was probably shocked that he could say things like that. He was too, actually. But he saw a face that clearly did not belong there. He frowned. "Alright, Peter," he said as if Peter's time was up. "Since when does the Junior Tennis Gazette belong to the official press? Whose press card did you nick?"
"Mike's," Peter answered, standing up sheepishly.
Nobody knew who Mike was, except John. "What's the news value for the JTG then? New tennis talent won't be presenting itself for another while. Maybe Anna will want them to do ballet."
"Ballet!" said Anna almost inaudibly. If she had been very graceful, then it might have worked, but they certainly would not inherit any grace from herself, she thought. And John's offspring and ballet? She chuckled inwardly. He would be appalled. "No. Only if they want to." And how could they want to if nobody introduced them to it or encouraged them?
"Genetically impossible," John said in relief. Well, physically it was possible. When Anna did not think about it, she could be very graceful. Or so he thought. Perhaps he was biased and really cultured people would not agree. It was alright if their children merely wanted to do ballet, but inevitably they would want him to come and watch, and he preferred to watch tennis or something like that.
"Well, I just wanted to see what you'd hooked," Peter admitted. "But I'm interrupting the press conference."
"Oh, right. You're depriving people of the chance to ask Anna some interesting questions," John said innocently. "I forgot that she wasn't here for fun. She likes press conferences as much as I do." But she should be liking this informal approach better. He briefly wondered if Marie-Celeste was going to be very upset if she heard about this. Too bad for Marie-Celeste.
"Well, I don't see the point," Anna spoke up in a gentle voice. "I didn't abdicate to still be the centre of attention. You should concentrate on my sister. You shouldn't be looking back, but you should be looking at the new queen. What I do isn't important, only to me -- I mean, us, sorry." She glanced at John shyly. "I don't see why you choose to concentrate on whether we're involved or not -- you probably want to think I gave it up for a man, when if I'd really wanted to stay on I would have worked on his rough edges --"
John looked rather amazed at this very long and profound speech for Anna, not to mention the fact that he appeared to have rough edges and that she would have worked on them. How? he wondered.
"-- and trained him to be a model husband --"
"Trained?" John asked. Somehow that made him think of dogs. "Really, Anna dear! To sit up and fetch?"
"Sit-ups are good," she patted his stomach with a grin. It was her first smile so far. "Next question."
It would be alright now, John thought. She had smiled and she looked more relaxed.
"How do you feel, Your Royal Highness?"
Anna considered the question. "Oh, fine." Actually, that was a lie, but she supposed the woman referred to her state of mind in general and not her current feelings.
"Don't you have any regrets?"
"No."
"Your Royal Highness, what will you do now?"
Anna looked at the man. "It's in the statement." He should read that. He could not be wanting her to repeat it word for word.
"Do you have any additions to the activities in the statement?"
John made another sound that indicated that he thought this a stupid question and somehow it encouraged Anna. "Eat, sleep…?" she said, looking at him inquiringly. His expression did not promise much good and she looked away quickly before she would colour, but it happened anyway.
"Is it true that you're going into tennis management?" the next person asked.
Anna looked at John. "Am I?"
"Yes. Although I'm afraid this still belongs to the barrage of 'are you going to bed with Anna tonight' euphemisms," John replied. Some reporters looked as if he had hit the nail on the head. "The answer is no." He grinned, suppressing the urge to say na na na na nar. Not tonight -- he was getting married tomorrow. Anna looked a little shocked, but Eduard's face was impassive, so he could not have gone too far wrong, John decided. "But if I take your question literally, I'd have to say you're managing me already."
"Oh, that's right," Anna realised. "All those sponsors thought I was your manager…they asking if you wanted to drive their car and what type you were driving at the moment. And all I could say was that your car was red."
John stared at her and burst out laughing. He forgot he was in front of a lot of people. "Red?" He was not a woman, was he? Red! But she definitely was. This proved it beyond a doubt.
"It's not red?" Anna asked in confusion.
"Are you colour blind?" he asked. "Maybe I shouldn't tell you to buy my clothes after all. Who knows what I'm going to end up with."
"It's not red?"
"Umm…no." It was not even close to being red. Where had she got that idea? Was she confusing his car with another one? She had been in his car. How could she not know what colour it was? It was incredible.
Anna frowned and closed her eyes, to call up the image of the car. "I could swear it was red." By his reaction she knew that she should know what colour it was. But it was just a car -- did the colour really matter?
"It's dark green," he said dryly. "Red's a colour for women."
"Really?" Anna was amazed. "I must have missed that because I can only tell cars apart by the number plates." She rattled of his number plate and it was his turn to look amazed. "Is dark green a colour for men then? My car is dark blue. What do you think of that? That I'm not a woman?"
"Well, if you don't know what type of car I have, you're a woman. And that your car is dark blue doesn't mean a thing, because you probably didn't have any say in what you drive." He looked at the audience, who had been listening with interest. "Does anybody object to these asides? Or do you think you could ask more interesting questions?"
Eduard was glad that John did his work for him. He too could have pointed out to the audience that they should ask other questions, but it would not have been nearly so effective. Now it appeared that they were all afraid of being ridiculed. But John was feeling more at ease now, so he would not blurt out things anymore. He would think more carefully of how what he said would be received and he left it Anna to reply. Just the fact that he was sitting there gave her confidence, it seemed. She sounded less nervous when she replied.
Because there were so many journalists, they only got the opportunity to ask one question, which meant that the later ones had to be creative if they wanted to ask something no one else had asked before and some could not, so they gave up. It was over rather quickly.
Directly afterwards John glanced at the microphone, but it had been turned off safely. "Are you alright, Anna?"
"Yes."
"I hope you didn't mind my interference."
"No."
"I hate speaking for you."
Eduard looked amused. He had gathered as much from one or two quickly suppressed frowns.
"I know," Anna said penitently.
"But I hate to see you miserable even more." Anna gave him a hug and the next thing John noticed was that there was a man standing there. "Oh." He released Anna, who sat down again beside him.
"A well-informed source told me, Mr. Seton, that you used to work for QRS. Is that true?" the man asked.
John looked at the man carefully. QRS was a cover name that Internal Operations sometimes used. Not many people should be aware of the connection and certainly not someone present here. He did not want to say yes and yet he wanted to know how the man knew. The rest of the journalists were leaving the room slowly. "What is QRS?" John asked.
"I did some research into the Bresson case fifteen years back and I came across the name QRS then."
"I don't know what the Bresson case is." And he truly did not. He would have been too young to know, fifteen years ago.
"There's no need to, just that it involved CO. You must have heard about CO. They're the guys who kidnapped Her Majesty," he glanced at Anna, who was listening interestedly. "You must know Miss Russier -- she interviewed the Queen, she spoke to one of the kidnappers -- in fact, she visited my vet the night before the interview with the kidnapper appeared. Which was odd, since I know she doesn't live in the neighbourhood and she should have a different vet."
"And what has that got to do with me?" John asked, looking suitably puzzled. "Or with your vet?"
"You know my vet. I've seen you with him, except that I didn't know you then. I recognised you afterwards as being a friend of my vet's."
This was all gibberish to Eduard, but Anna understood it and she looked down so she would not give anything away.
"So?"
"It all fits. You know the Queen and you know Hegge. So does Russier."
"A square," Anna said.
The journalist looked at her with approval. It had taken him a bit longer to conclude that earlier, complete with arrows and all. "Exactly."
"That doesn't mean we've got anything to do with QRS or CO," said John.
"Hegge has another job, at QRS. He said so himself one day, not knowing I knew what it was and unless this is a different QRS from the one I ran into fifteen years ago, it's CO. He wasn't on duty at the veterinary practice over Christmas. I had to take my dog and he wasn't there. He wasn't there on any of the days that the Queen was away, I realised later, and that together with Russier coming the night before the interview was published…plus the fact that my source revealed that the CO guys had to stay anonymous because otherwise people would recognise one…I knew you were a friend of Hegge's and it would make so much more sense if you had met the Queen during the kidnapping, because she was friendly with the kidnappers and she became friendly with you a few days later, when I saw for myself right now that she doesn't easily make friends…"
"How convincing. Why did you ask me about QRS then?" John was still trying to decide on the right approach. "If Hegge is with CO?"
"Because nobody knows about QRS except those who work for CO. You haven't denied anything yet."
"No, I haven't," John agreed. "But so far the only thing you've asked me was whether I worked for QRS and I haven't given you any answer." How could he deny anything when he suspected that more facts were still to come? They rarely showed their whole hand right away.
"Hegge works for CO," said the journalist. "I spoke to his neighbour, who saw that one night the Queen came by to ask him for a professional ID or something to reassure her bodyguard and she was accompanied by a man Hegge called Seton and boss. What other Setons would accompany the Queen but you? And how could you be Hegge's boss unless you also worked for CO? You're not a vet. You could say I don't know that Hegge works for CO, but why else would he have an ID that would tell the Queen's bodyguard that he could safely leave her with him? And how many groups of agents would the Queen know?" He looked inquiringly at John.
John looked back, trying to figure out what the effect of this would be, if it was bad or if it did not matter. He did not understand why anyone should take the trouble to investigate something like this. "It all sounds very strange and far-fetched. You probably wouldn't allow yourself to be convinced of the opposite. And what will you do with these suspicions?"
"I haven't decided yet. First I want to satisfy my own curiosity."
"What's the point of telling other people?" Anna asked quietly. "Everybody has the right to work for CO and QRS and whatever and you haven't reported Hegge when you found out about him, so why do something now? Or are you just concerned that I've got a lover I haven't known long enough and you're so concerned for my welfare that you're trying to find ways to prove that I've actually known him longer?"
© 2000 Copyright held by the author.