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Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. The Summer Queen
  3. Dedication Page
  4. Family Tree of King George III
  5. Family Tree of Queen Victoria
  6. PART ONE
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. PART TWO
  21. Chapter Fourteen
  22. Chapter Fifteen
  23. Chapter Sixteen
  24. Chapter Seventeen
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-One
  29. Chapter Twenty-Two
  30. Chapter Twenty-Three
  31. Chapter Twenty-Four
  32. PART THREE
  33. Chapter Twenty-Five
  34. Chapter Twenty-Six
  35. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  36. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  37. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  38. Chapter Thirty
  39. Chapter Thirty-One
  40. Chapter Thirty-Two
  41. PART FOUR
  42. Chapter Thirty-Three
  43. Chapter Thirty-Four
  44. Chapter Thirty-Five
  45. Chapter Thirty-Six
  46. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  47. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  48. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  49. Chapter Forty
  50. Chapter Forty-One
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Select Bibliography
  53. The Summer Queen
  54. By Margaret Pemberton

Alexei picked his little dog up in his arms.

Nicky stubbed out his cigarette and held out his hand to help Alicky rise from her chair. ‘You will be able to sleep, my darling, when we are aboard the train,’ he said comfortingly.

‘Yes.’

How she envied Nicky his calm and untroubled thoughts. He was a fatalist. It was how he had been able to cope with his enforced abdication; the humiliations of the last four months; this leaving in the night, for a journey of thousands of miles to heaven only knew where. For Nicky, whatever would be would be. Everything was in God’s hands, and railing against fate was pointless.

He tucked her gloved hand into the crook of his arm. ‘I love you with all my heart, body and soul,’ he whispered, sensing her tension and fear. ‘Always and forever.’

‘For eternity?’ It was what they always said to each other.

‘For eternity.’

For the first time since she had read Grishka’s letter, a feeling of peace flooded through Alicky. Whatever happened, they would always be together, of that she was absolutely certain. And with renewed courage and a heart full of the most passionate, burning love, she walked with Nicky into the all-enveloping, waiting darkness.

Chapter Forty-One

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OCTOBER 1918, LONDON

May was about to leave Buckingham Palace for another long day of hospital visits to wounded and maimed soldiers, when George hurried breathlessly into her sitting room. ‘The latest news from the Front is that the Germans are falling back! At last we have them on the run, May.’

May sucked in her breath. Ever since August there had been glimmers of hope that the Allies were gaining the upper hand. Fifteen months ago America had entered the war and only three weeks ago had inflicted a heavy defeat on German troops at Saint-Mihiel in northern France. This, though, was the first time George had sounded so optimistic of overall victory being within sight.

With a trembling hand he lit a cigarette. ‘And the rumour from Germany is that Willy’s Chancellor, Max of Baden, has formed a liberal government that just might be interested in an armistice. Wasn’t he an old suitor of yours?’

‘There was a time when Mama hoped he was, but it wasn’t a hope I ever shared.’

‘Still, he sounds a good man. Louis says he is.’

Louis of Battenberg, Vicky’s husband and now Louis Mountbatten, since George – having got cold feet about his surname of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha – had changed it to Windsor and had anglicized all other German surnames in the family at the same time, had once been a close friend of Max’s.

‘I believe he is. Mama wouldn’t have considered him a suitable husband for me if he hadn’t been.’