Next to him was Metternich, in the middle of a lengthy elocution, which he interrupted when they entered. “Ah. There they are.” He made a curt bow. “Your Imperial Highness. Fräulein Cranwell.”
Pippa stared at the Emperor and felt her jaw drop.
Good heavens! It couldn’t be. “You!” Then sherealised she was committing a gravefaux pas, coloured, curtsied, and corrected herself, “Your Majesty.”
Consternation overcame her, and she hardly knew where to look, nor how to behave.
The gardener’s stern features softened. “My friend from the greenhouse. Did you enjoy the sleigh ride?” He stepped forward and took her icy hand in his.
Pippa struggled to form coherent words.
Klemens’ gaze passed from Pippa to his father and back again. “You know each other?”
“Indeed. We met on my rooftop garden and had a most illuminating chat. Twice, I believe. I cannot recall ever having been so thoroughly entertained.” The Emperor regarded her with a twinkle in his eyes.
“I, I didn’t, I mean, I honestly did not know, Your Majesty,” Pippa breathed. “I would never have dreamed—I would never have dared—oh dear. I believed you to be just an ordinary gardener.” Her mind raced back through their conversations, reviewing every word she’d uttered.
She placed her hands on her burning cheeks. “Oh dear. The things I have said!”
“Nothing that you have to be ashamed of. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations.” He patted her hand, then led her to a settee, where he invited her to sit down. “As well as your thoughts on certain matters, for which I am profoundly grateful.”
Klemens looked bemused. “What matters have you been discussing?”
“Plants,” Pippa said, struggling for composure.
“Quite right,” his father nodded. “FräuleinCranwell’s observations on the state and proper care of my, err, plants, were particularly astute.”
“Plants.” Metternich lifted an amused eyebrow as he sat down next to her. “It must have been a deeply illuminating conversation.”
“Indeed, Metternich. Your talents may be varied, but I do not believe they include gardening.” The Emperor sniffed, as if he considered that to be a great character defect. “It is an activity I happen to hold in high esteem. But aside from Fräulein Cranwell, I do not expect anyone to understand this.”
The Emperor took the armchair across from the settee. That left Klemens standing awkwardly in front of them, without a place to sit, shifting his weight like a schoolboy called before the headmaster.
“Young woman, we shall discuss your horticultural insights later. But first—” the Emperor pointed a finger at Klemens, and his voice turned severe. “We must discuss this disgraceful son of mine. What is this latest scandal I hear involving you?”
Klemens scowled. “Which scandal do you refer to, Majesty? There are plenty to choose from.”
Metternich leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and regarded his fingernails with studious interest.
Pippa chewed worriedly on her lower lip, and gripped her shawl with both hands.
“The latest one, you reprobate. What did you say to chase the Grand Duchess away? It is causing a diplomatic rift between Austria and Russia.” He wagged a fingerat him.
Klemens stiffened, clearly stung. “With all due respect, I said nothing at all. Her running away was entirely of her own machination. If this is causing a diplomatic rift, it is certainly not of my doing. I never even saw her after the engagement was announced. Kovacz eventually found her in a church in Baden, just after she’d married someone else.”
“And why, by my crown, wasn’t I informed of this announcement?” his father bellowed.
Metternich cleared his throat delicately. “That may have been my doing.”
“Explain yourself.” The Emperor’s voice could have frozen the Danube in July.
Metternich spread his hands in an elegant gesture. “Given the increasing discordance with the Tsar, I believed it to be the best step for all of us to formalise the engagement. Alas, none of us knew that the Grand Duchess had a secret but passionate attachment to someone else. It has indeed been confirmed that she married her lover this very morning. A cavalry officer, I believe. Quite romantic, really.”
“That is a diplomatic blunder of such immense proportions, and so entirely not in your usual smooth way, Metternich, that I am wondering whether it might have been intentional.” A loaded pause ensued, during which Metternich examined an invisible speck on his immaculate cuff. “Am I right?”
Metternich cleared his throat. “The Russians have become a millstone around our necks. It had become imperative for us to extricate ourselves from this union. By prompting the Grand Duchess toact first, it released us from a rather tricky situation.” He spread his hands. “She was taken unawares by this announcement as well. This was intentional. The abruptness caused her to panic and show her true colours. She eloped with her lover that very night. The Russians have lost face, and we shall, of course, be gracious enough to overlook this faux pas on their side for the sake of maintaining the peace so that this congress may continue as planned. Most magnanimous of us, really.”
“It is as I thought, then. You wanted to manipulate and outwit the Tsar.” The Emperor turned to stare at his son. “And you? What do you have to say on this matter?”
