Pascale Auber & the Ruritanian Riddle

XXX Back at the Department - 3

"Surely it is not so shocking that they are expecting a child" I said, gesturing to a linecut of the Ruritanian queen on the front page of one of his newspapers. "She looks very healthy and quite pretty."

"She is forty," my boss shrugged. I held up a finger, but he cut me off before I could speak.

"Before you point out that your mother was two years older when your youngest brother was born," My boss said, "allow me to tell you this - the King and Queen of Ruritania have been married 20 years. In the first ten years of their marriage, King Rudolf and Queen Flavia suffered three miscarriages and two stillbirths. In the ten years between then and now, this is the first time Flavia has fallen pregnant again. While a happy event, I do not believe it was . . . expected. I understand that Flavia is already in her seventh month"

I know that royalty primarily have children for dynastic reasons, but I still felt sorry for the King and Queen - if nothing else, it is hard to want something only to have it snatched from your grasp on the eve of success, and I suppose even a king and queen might love their own child. "And you believe the advent of this new child has frightened the Archduke into action, boss?"

My boss frowned before answering, "Yes - should this pregnancy result in the birth of a living child, he or she would take precedence over a mere nephew. And the Archduke's place in the succession was never entirely clear before his uncle officially declared him heir presumptive. That sort of uncertainty makes a man nervous."

"It is not his fault that his father was merely the king's half-brother," I said. "To be honest, I am rather surprised he was chosen as the heir."

"He is the king's closest relation."

"What about Theo von Hentzau? Or one of King Rudolf's other half-brothers? Is it that the Archduke's father was the eldest of the old king's bastards?"

"Mind your language, Auber! That sort of word is unbecoming for a lady. And you are being foolish. Archduke Ruprecht's father was Michael, Duke of Strelsau - the legitimate progeny of the late king. The marriage was morganatic, true, but morganatic marriages are perfectly legal in Ruritania."

I was very confused. "But the Archduke is the heir to the throne; the whole point of a morganatic marriage is that the issue do not inherit their father's titles."

My boss smiled mischievously. It was a strange expression when compared to his usual frown. "The direct issue never did. Duke Michael died well before his parents' marriage was retroactively declared dynastic. In fact, that particular decision was made by King Rudolf about eight years ago, when it looked likely that he would not have a child of his own. I understand it took some wrangling to get it through the Ruritanian parliament. The only reason it passed was because the Archduke's mother was a Hentzau and might have had a legitimate claim to be next in line anyhow."

For a moment I got caught up on the name 'Hentzau', and wondered if Theo were the result of a love affair between the old king and his own wife's sister or niece. The thought made me frown in distaste. "And so the Archduke is only close, legitimate, living relative?"

"Well, Ruprecht has got both a brother and a young son, but that would be it, yes."

"I see. So, boss, what do we do?"

"Well, tomorrow, you attend the operetta with Mr. Theophilus von Hentzau. But today? Today you are going to investigate the Baratarian Embassy fire."

Yes, that image is Charles Dana Gibson's frontispiece for the 1898 edition of The Prisoner of Zenda. Which makes Flavia a Gibson Girl, I guess!