Gwen would never have done that. Well, easy enough to say that now. She wasn’t much older than Alice had been when she got married. What if Ronnie had lived? Would she be living her life or his now? Would he have supported her desire to go to university? What would they have been like fifteen years later?

Would he have let her work with Iris at The Right Sort?

Nonsense, darling. Our life is perfect. I shall provide everything you could possibly want. Have some more children.

“He died before you learned all of his flaws … a paragon forever.”

Alice was married to Andrea long enough to see his flaws.

The letters rushed headlong into passion.

I cannot bear to be without you …

I must see you or I will lose my mind …

He will be away for three days …

There’s an inn on the Ruopigenstrasse. I have taken a room there under the name Schmidt …

This is madness! We cannot continue, but I cannot stop …

No one can find out.

No one will find out.

How you made me feel last night—I did not even know such things were possible …

She reread that one a few times. One could always count on German for exquisite detail.

You have asked about Nancy …

Nancy?

Yes, I still intend to marry her. I must, for the sake of the family. She has money. She can help us.

He had a fiancée! She didn’t know Christo’s story. She would have to ask Iris. Not a Greek or German, with that name. English? American? Rich, in any case, and an extended royal family in exile is not inexpensive to maintain.

She read on.

But that cannot stop us. Our love is a True Love, a Higher Love than exists on this mortal plane.

Oh please, scoffed Gwen. The mortal plane is the one where you’re both horizontal. Spare us the spiritual blather.

The affair continued—stolen moments, private outings, those long, long “walks.” Alice’s legs must have been in superb condition. Then came the wedding.

My darling,

How hard it was to see the two of you together, holding hands as everyone applauded, knowing that you now belong to this woman. They intend to give her a title: Princess Anastasia. Princess! When all she did was marry a fortune, then bury the man who made it.

Know that I am yours any time you want me. I don’t care anymore if we are found out.

Forever, A.

My heart,

We must be more cautious than ever, but I will find a way …

And apparently, he did. Well, if he didn’t care about her marriage, or his brother’s, why should he care about his own?

But all good things must come to an end, and so must the bad.

They had gone to Lugano for the summer months of 1920. Events in Greece were mentioned. Martial law was abolished, with the pendulum of national sympathy swinging back to the royal family. Alexander, the nephew, just months away from his fatal simian encounter, was on the throne, his own marriage a scandal. The brothers began to plot their next move, including Christo.