CHAPTER 43b
"I've been hoping you'd call," Falice said when Farah called her the next morning.
"I decided it was time for me to get on with my life," Farah told her. "What happened can't be changed, and we have to learn to live with it."
"How are Nicky and Alexandra handling it?"
"Nicky's completely recovered from the bullet wounds and is being groomed to take over as head of state, and that's good because it keeps his mind occupied."
"And Princess Alexandra?"
"She's been like a rock. She's kept us all from falling apart. Why don't you come for lunch and help liven things up around here? That's really why I called you. I hope you can make it."
"You mean today?"
"Of course. Are you free?"
"You bet. What time?"
"We usually have lunch at one o'clock. But come early. I want to hear allabout your life in the big city among all those sexy Frenchmen."
"You sound like my mother. She warned me about sexy Frenchmen but so far I haven't met any."
It was almost one when Felice arrived. During all the years of their friendship, Megan had lived at the Farm with her parents, and both girls had worn mostly casual clothing. Today Felice wore a simple beltless navy dress with large white buttons down the front and a bow-trimmed white band at knee length above a flounce that ended at mid-calf. Her brown hair, which she usually wore loose and curly around her shoulders, was drawn back and tied with a white ribbon.
"Wow," Farah said when she saw her. "I thought you went to Paris to go to school, not to be a high fashion model."
Felice grinned. "I didn't thinks shorts and a T-shirt appropiate for the palace. Besides, it's cold outside."
Farah turned to Nickolai, who had just come in. "You won't believe this," she said, "but the glamorous creature standing before you is Felice."
"No," he said, staggering back with his hand over his heart, "not that skinny little kid who used to hang around the Farm! She looks like a movie starlet."
Felice smiled, but her face turned pink, and Farah thought, why, she's got a crush on Nicky. Wouldn't it be neat if they fell in love?
Alexandra joined them, greeted their guest, and they went in to lunch, which was easy and informal. They lingered long at the table, chatting about this and that, then the girls retired to Megan's suite for a long talk. Felice told about her life in Paris, about her school and her new friends there.
"I've missed you, Megan," she said. "School in Paris would be much more fun if we were together. Who would have dreamed that things could turn out as they did?"
"It's still like a nightmare, but Nicky and Gram and I have helped each other through it. It gets a little easier with time, but we still need each other. Maybe by fall I'll be able to join you in Paris."
Later, as Felice prepared to leave, Nicky stuck his head in the door. "Gram thinks we should start making ourselves visible," he said. "She suggested we take in the concert on New Year's Eve. Are you girls interested?"
"I'd love it," Farah said. "How about you, Felice?"
"Sounds great to me."
"Okay," Nicky said, "get out your fanciest duds and we'll all go in style."
They arrived early at the concert, and as they took their seats in the royal box they were spotted by the audience, who stood up amid thunderous applause. There were cries of "Nickolai, Nickolai," and Nicky rose and bowed. This was followed by "Alexandra, Alexandra," who likewise rose and bowed. Next it was "Megan, Megan," and following her bow, Nickolai held up his hand for silence. Then he extended his other hand to Felice. As she stood up, he said, "This is Felice." There was laughter and applause, after which they all settled down to enjoy the concert.
This appearance marked the end of their official mourning, and Alexandra and Farah resumed their attendance at various public events. The demands soon became so heavy that in a flippant mood, Alexandra said to Farah, "We'll have to get Nicky married off as soon as possible, so his bride can give us a hand."
"Well, there are two candidates. Which one do you prefer?"
"Who's the second?"
"Felice. You should have seen her blushing when Nicky remarked about how nice she looked."
"There are also a couple of eligible princesses about Nicky's age. Maybe we should check them out." Then she looked at Farah and a slow flush spread upward from her neck. "It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I was holding out for a royal bride for Michael when you came along. I guess I never told you how glad I am that he insisted on marrying you."
"And I'm sorry," Farah told her, "that I never mentioned how glad I am that we finally worked out our differences."
Birthdays had always been a cause for celebration in the family, and as Megan's birthday in February drew near, Nickolai suggested that they invite Hack and his crew "to liven things up," as he said, "so that it won't be so obvious that the rest of the family is missing."
Alexandra agreed at once, remembering that Nicky's birthday the previous August had been a bleak affair, saved from tragedy only by their joy that Nickolai had survived to celebrate another birthday.
When contacted, Hack said he couldn't pull all his crew off the job but that he and Tanya could be spared for a couple of days. Nicky wanted to fly over himself and pick them up, but Alexandra vetoed that.
"We still don't know who was responsible for what happened last summer, and you could be in danger. We'll send Konrad after them." Konrad was their pilot who often flew to Paris and other places to meet visitors and government officials returning from business trips.
In the past most of these celebrations had been held at the Farm. Events had broken that tradition. There could be little joy amid the memories of what had transpired there last summer; consequently, they decided to make it a dinner dance at the palace.
"Shall we be old-fashioned and get a regular orchestra for dancing the waltz and all those other dances they did in my day, or hire a rock band for the way they dance now?" Alexandra asked Farah, only half in jest.
"We have to go with the tide," Farah told her.
"Do you know how to do these new dances?"
"Oh, Michael and I picked them up easily. But we didn't want to leave you out, so why don't we throw in a waltz or two?"
"Let's ask Nicky what he thinks."
"Okay. And you know what I'd like? I'd like for Nicky and me to do the traditional Zhad folk dance. The one I danced with Michael that day at the fair when we had just met. It would be kind of a memorial for him. And of course for his wife -- Farah, I think her name was." Tears spilled from her eyes. Tears for Michael, for Megan, and for herown lost identity.
Alexandra put her arms around her and they wept together.
When consulted, Nicky liked Farah's suggestion about the folk dance. He and Megan had both learned it early and, like their father, joined the celebrants in dancing it at the fair. He also agreed to a few old-time dances.
This led him to wonder if Alexandra had in mind a formal dance or if everyone should dress casual.
"Oh, casual, by all means," she said, knowing that would have been his choice.
Hack and Tanya arrived in time for dinner on the day before the birthday celebration. They were welcomed warmly, and it soon became obvious that Nicky and Tanya again had eyes only for each other.
Alexandra had no objection, for since the Christmas visit she had had Tanya investigated. The report came back favorable, and the information that Tanya's mother had decended from a prominent family that had fled Russia at the time of the Revolution made it especially pleasing to her.
The party went off smoothly. The food was delicious, the service flawless, and the orchesta not too strident. The folk dance met with great enthusiasm. The others applauded it so long and so loudly that the orchestra repeated it and several of the others joined in. The surprise of the evening came when Alexandra and Hack danced the waltz. They danced so beautifully together that the other dancers withdrew from the floor to watch them. They finished to loud applause and cheering.
Alexandra's invitation had specified no birthday presents for Megan, but before the party broke up the waiters brought in a decorated birthday cake, with candles, and ice cream to remind them of the reason for the occasion. The guests expressed pleasure at seeing Nickolai and Megan back in circulation, and hoped, as one of Nicky's friends put it, "That you won't crawl back in a hole -- we've missed you."
"I don't think you need to check out those princesses, at least for the present," Farah told Alexandra later. "Nicky is besotted with Tanya. Do you suppose he has marriage in mind?"
"If he's like his father he probably has." They laughed, remembering how quickly Michael had chosen Farah. "I must say, she's giving him more encouragement than you gave Michael. But of course the circumstances were different."
"Yes," Farah said, recalling her grief over Kevin's death and how kind Michael had been. Perhaps she had not loved him the way she loved Noel, but her years with Michael had been the happiest of her life. I must stop grieving over the past, she thought, and brought her mind back to what Alexandra was saying:
"I wish he'd talk to us about it. I'd like to know how serious he is."
"HE may be wondering how serious he is, too. When he makes up his mind I'm sure he'll tell us," Farah said.
A few days later Nicky himself brought up the subject. "I suppose you've noticed my interest in Tanya," he began. "I think I'm really in love with her, and I'd like to know what you two think about my asking her to marry me."
"She's a lovely girl," Alexandra said, "and I have no objections. But don't you think you're sort of rushing things? You're both very young."
"We want you to be sure," Farah said. "Give yourselves plenty of time to get acquainted."
"That's just what I had in mind. I want to meet her in Paris at Easter time with no one to distract us so we'll find out just how serious we are about each other." At the look on Alexandra's face, he added, "I promise there'll be no hanky-panky."
"That isn't what I had on my mind. I was thinking about your safety."
"Oh, I'll be perfectly safe. I'll take along the usual guard and we'll avoid crowded public places. There's probably no danger, anyway. I for one am satisfied it was Andre who hired those killers."
"There's no point in taking chances," Alexandra said.
"Of course not. We must always be on guard. But we can't live our lives in fear."
"Spoken like a man, little brother." Farah grinned at him.
He grinned back. "I'll forgive the oxymoron," he said, "because I'm beginning to think there's hope for you yet."
Nickolai came back from Paris walking on air. "She agrees with you, Gram, that we should get better acquainted before making a commitment," he told Alexandra. "But she didn't say no. She wants her parents to meet me."
"Should we invite them here?"
"I think she wants me to see how they live and everything about them."
"When do you plan to see her again?"
How adult he looks, Farah thought as she watched him, wanting to push back the stray lock that had fallen over his eye. He's grown into a man while I wasn't looking. She wished she could smooth the lock back and hold him in her arms.
After several meetings with Tanya, Nickolai visited her parents in California. He came back in a state of euphoria and announced that her parents were slendid people, and that he and Tanya were now engaged to be married. They hoped to have the wedding soon after his birthday in August, when he would be twenty-one years old.
"When do we get to meet Tanya's parents?" Alexandra asked.
"I was coming to that. I think they feel a little overwhelmed and would like the engagement announcement made by us from the palace. They would, of course, expect to be here at the time."
"That can be managed," Alexandra said, "and if you want my opinion I think we should wait until your birthday to make the announcement."
"That's okay with me." He glanced at Farah. "You can be the flower girl at the wedding."
"Good. I'll put jelly beans in the basket under the flowers and throw them at you during the ceremony."