An Embarrassment of Riches by Margaret Pemberton Page A

William Hudson said without preamble as they joined him for afternoon tea. ‘Can’t say I’m surprised. I’ve heard it said that he thinks the war will be over by Christmas and although I’m not in agreement with him on many things, I have to admit that I’m in agreement with him there.’
    Victor Karolyis was a name William Hudson now seldom uttered. When Alexander Karolyis had asked for Genevre’s hand in marriage he had given his consent whole-heartedly, delighted at the prospect of his daughter marrying into a family that was synonymous with wealth from coast to coast. When Victor Karolyis had vehemently opposed the marriage he had been dumbfounded. His own wealth was such that he couldn’t conceive of Genevre being accused of fortune-hunting and what other objections to the marriage could Karolyis possible have? He soon discovered.
    â€˜European royalty?’ he had roared in his booming Yorkshire accent. ‘Ye gods! Who does the man think he is? He can’t possibly be serious! Does he really think that one of Queen Victoria’s brood, or any other member of the British royal family would for one moment consider allying themselves with the son of a jumped-up Hungarian immigrant?’
    â€˜Mr Karolyis was not an immigrant, Papa,’ Genevre had said to him patiently. ‘It was Alexander’s grandfather who was the immigrant, and by European royalty I think that Alexander’s father is referring to lesser known royal houses, or royal houses in exile.’
    â€˜Then he’ll be damned lucky to find a Protestant daughter-in-law,’ her father had said with asperity, thinking of Bourbons and Esterhazys and half a dozen other staunchly Catholic royal houses. ‘What does Alexander think of all this? Is he prepared to go grovelling around Europe trying to buy himself a suitably impoverished royal bride and making himself a laughing-stock?’
    â€˜No, Papa,’ Genevre had said again, with endless patience. ‘But an aristocratic daughter-in-law has always been his father’s dream and it is one that he is not easily going to relinquish.’
    Nor had he. William Hudson had found Victor’s stance almost unbelievable. That the man should have the arrogance to believe it possible that his riches would buy him an aristocratic and possibly even royal bride was farcical enough. That because of this ambition he then deemed Genevre as not being good enough for his son to marry was more than William could stomach.
    He cast a speculative look across the tea-table at Alexander. He had always found him extremely likeable, but there were moments when he wondered if, with the passage of time, Alexander would grow just as arrogant and as merciless as his father. There was something about the chiselled mouth and the set of his dark, narrow eyes that indicated pride and temper, as well as passion.
    As Alexander and Genevre began again to discuss the war he pondered. All in all, it might be for the best if Genevre’s relationship with Alexander was severed. He had no desire to see her trapped in a marriage with a man who might one day consider that his father’s advice had been the right advice, and that he could have married more advantageously.
    â€˜I shan’t volunteer as a nurse now,’ Genevre was saying. ‘I would only have done so if you had enlisted.’
    Alexander would be twenty-one in a year’s time and had declared his intention of then marrying Genevre with or without Victor’s blessing. The more he thought about it, the more William disliked the idea. The marriage would have been an ideal one if Victor Karolyis had been as delighted about it as he himself had initially been. As it was, the whole of New York would know that Victor did not consider Genevre worthy of being a Karolyis bride and instead of being the social occasion of the year, the wedding would instead be a shaming hole-in-the-corner affair. There was