Ch.4 True Love

Was she wise to trust Peter?

TRUE LOVE

Any fears the old Tsarina had would have quickly faded had she seen how Peter had cared for Rebecca. Thousands of miles away, in his native country, America, Peter loved Rebecca. He made sure that Rebecca had her own room, new clothes and would see her every day, talking to her and looking into her eyes.

It was strange seeing a grown man lavish so much attention on a china doll. But Peter was not heir to the throne and could more or less do what he wanted. He never left the Palace, except on official business, and the servants ‘humored’ him, believing him to be a little mad.

But Peter didn’t care! He loved Rebecca and would care for her and would somehow break the spell. And in the evenings, he would sit quietly holding Rebecca, her china face seemed to soften in the glow of the fireplace.

The servants saw no need for concern. The Prince was just eccentric, his mind locking since the young maiden’s disappearance. That was all they knew and Peter was happy to leave them to their thoughts. As long as Rebecca was safe, Peter simply did not care!

The Prince’s eldest brother was married. Knowing what had happened, the heir to the throne decided to have his younger brother stay for a while, to care for Peter, to try to help him get back into normal life.

With all of his brother’s kindness, Peter was perplexed. How could he travel with Rebecca? He couldn’t just put her in a doll’s box with the other luggage and he couldn’t leave her behind. So Peter came up with a plan. Packing her clothes in with his own, Peter put Rebecca very gently into a glass box which had a cushion and which was padded out with velvet. All that could be seen was Rebecca’s face. Putting a leather handle on the top, no one else was allowed to carry the box with Rebecca (the china doll) in.

Meeting his brother at the station, the heir to the throne suddenly realized that Peter was ‘seriously ill’. Or so it looked to him. He humored Peter but was secretly horrified at his brother’s madness. Settling into a suite of rooms, Peter took Rebecca out of the glass box and laid her gently on the bed. Laying down himself, Peter held his love in his arms and they both fell asleep.

Going downstairs after breakfast, Peter met up with his elder brother and they quietly sat down and chatted. Peter told his brother everything. This convinced his brother of Peter’s madness. The best doctor was called!

Peter quietly obeyed and lived a very quiet life for about three months. As long as he had Rebecca in his arms, Peter was happy. The only conclusion that the doctor could arrive at was that Peter could not accept the fact that his love had disappeared and that the doll replaced her. And as Peter was no harm to anyone, not even himself, the doctor saw no harm in leaving him as he was. So this is how Peter and Rebecca lived. Strange but Peter had true love for Rebecca.

Then one morning there was a great gathering in the main drawing-room. Everyone was very excited, including Peter, who had actually brought Rebecca down for the very first time. His elder brother and sister-in-law had adopted a beautiful little girl, as was the custom for the heir to the throne to do, in order for someone from a poor background to have a good start in life and a chance to live a successful, happy and safe life. Kneeling down, Peter took the little girl’s hand to welcome her. Maria, the adopted little girl, was fascinated with Rebecca, his china doll.

Then Peter heard the magical words!

Maria was five years old, pure Russian, who was orphaned at birth. “Perfect!” thought Peter, who very quickly gave Rebecca, the china doll, to his little niece. Maria was delighted, putting her little arms around his neck and giving her uncle a kiss on the cheek. Secretly, Peter’s family were overjoyed. At last, maybe Peter would get back to normal. Rebecca was happy, she knew this was right.

(Look out for ch.5, the last chapter "The Spell Broken")