A Princess Prays by Barbara Cartland

do – even to me. Quite frankly sometimes I find it exceedingly annoying.”
    â€œIt is a good way to learn, but equally it is rather a question of all work and no play!”
    â€œOf course it is,” agreed Gesa. “That is why you and I must play and laugh while we do it.”
    Without meaning to Attila looked apprehensively over her shoulder.
    She was half afraid they were challenging the Gods and at any moment fear and danger would be back again.
    â€œForget them!” said Gesa, reading her thoughts. “I promise they will not follow us any further.”
    â€œHow can you be so sure?”
    â€œBecause once out of their own territory they have no power, and I don’t think anyone else would be foolish enough to trust them like I did.”
    â€œYou must be very careful in the future, Gesa.” Attila told him seriously.
    â€œWould it matter to you if I was not?”
    Attila could not quite think how she should answer that question.
    Then as she looked at him, their eyes met.
    Somehow everything around them disappeared and she could only see him and it was as if he felt the same and could not look away.
    Then his horse stumbled and he had to pull in the reins.
    â€œIs it not time for luncheon yet?” he enquired. “I wish to talk to you.”
    â€œI think there is a place ahead where we stopped on the way out and I expect Lamos intends to go there again.”
    She was quite right.
    Lamos drove the carriage into the shade of some rocks and Kilkos took his horse and the one he was leading down to the river.
    â€œLet’s have our luncheon by the river,” suggested Gesa. “It will be cooler there and I cannot allow the sun to spoil the beauty of your skin.”
    Attila laughed.
    â€œNo one has ever worried about my skin before.”
    â€œI can only imagine the men you meet are blind as well as deaf!”
    She looked at him enquiringly.
    â€œYour voice is exquisite and just like music,” he explained, “and your skin has the beauty and softness of lilies.”
    Attila blushed and turned her head away, excited by being paid such extravagant compliments, which she had never heard before.
    They found a place by the water where they were in the shade and also out of sight of the carriage.
    Lamos had prepared a cold luncheon for them that looked very appetising once it was all laid out on the tablecloth.
    There were two bottles of wine, one being Father Jozsef’s speciality and the other from the Monastery.
    Gesa made Attila try a little of both and she much preferred Father Jozsef’s.
    She was, however, not very interested in what she was drinking and she really had no idea what she ate.
    She was fascinated by everything Gesa was telling her and she listened wide-eyed as he described a visit he had made recently to Russia and another to France.
    â€œI came to know the people quite well,” he related. “Not only those I was staying with, but the ordinary people of both countries. They taught me so much and they had a fascination for life which I believe is vital for everyone to have wherever they live.”
    â€œFascinating in what sort of way?” enquired Attila.
    â€œNot only in their looks and the way they live, but also what they thought and their opinions. It is so very important in this day and age when so much is happening in our lives to know what people think and why they think it.”
    Attila knew what he was trying to say and because it amused her, she started to question him about the way he used his mind.
    If he thought in a different way, she said he might be of greater significance to his country and the people he lived with.
    It was the sort of conversation she would have had with her father when he was well and it was always very stimulating to criticise, to agree and to criticise again.
    Especially with this handsome young man.
    She soon realised he was most intelligent and well-read.
    â€œHow do you know