I still didnt answer. I didnt look at him either.

"Where is my husband?" I asked.

Jeans only reply was: "Im going to have a cold bath now. Then I shall write a letter to the Emperor."

I sat up suddenly. "No!" I cried. "I refuse to be Desideria. I refuse. Do you understand?"

"Hes in the library. Hes discussing things with some Swedish gentlemen," she replied.

I rang the bell, and Marie came in. "Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness," she said, with a smile and a little curtsey.

At last I looked up at his strong kind face, and memories filled my mind. Here was Jean, the ordinary soldier whose hard work made him a marshal. He could have ruled France, instead of Napoleon--- but99lib.net he refused to be a dictator. He governed Hanover so well that everyone there was happy. Napoleon picked up a crown from the mud, and put it on his own head. But the people of Sweden have offered a crown to Jean. Its a wonderful thing.

"Charles is a royal Swedish name," he explained. "One day I shall be King Charles the fourteenth. And you are now the Crown Princess Desideria."

I had breakfast in bed. Then I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. "Desideria, Crown Princess of Sweden! Is that really your face? " I wondered. "What has happened to the girl from Marseilles who married General Bernadotte?"

"Desiree, if you object, I shant ask him. But I cant be a Crown Prince 99lib•netunless we become Swedish. So your answer is very important. Do you agree?"

"I dont want to see anyone, Marie," I said. "Tell them Ive got a headache. Or invent a better excuse, if you can."

He promised.

Other questions are worrying me too. Perhaps that young man in the garden can answer them? I wont write any more in my diary till Ive spoken with him.

Then I remembered. I felt suddenly unhappy and afraid.

"And who is Oscar playing with in the garden?"

We left them and went back to bed. Marie met us at the top of the stairs. I whispered to her:

After that, I slept for a long time. When I woke, it was two oclock in the afternoon. For a moment I couldnt understand this. Why was I in bed at that藏书网 hour? A strange memory, like a bad dream, lay at the back of my mind. I heard Oscars voice in the garden, and a mans voice answered him.

"Ill bring you breakfast, Desiree." She was going to the door when she remembered something else. "The Queens of Spain and Holland are downstairs. They want to see you. What shall I tell them?"

"No, Jean," I said. "The Swedes dont want me. They want you because youll be a strong Crown Prince. But they dont want a weak Crown Princess who was just a silk merchants daughter."

"Yes, Jean," I said. "I agree."

All the familiar things seem to be slipping out of my life. Even my face is changing. In November I shall be thirty-one years old. There 九九藏书网are little lines round my eyes. Perhaps I smile too much? When I laugh, the little lines grow deeper.

"Hes playing with the young Swedish count. He has already broken a window with his ball." Marie hates careless damage, but now she added: "Thats a lucky sign."

"Why did they call you Charles?" I asked him.

"Then Ill come," I said.

A big tear rolled down her face. Then Marie, my sweet old Marie, curtseyed deeply in front of me.

Is it? I hope so. "Im terribly hungry," I said.

I lay down and shut my eyes, but I couldnt sleep. Nor could Jean.

"Its the Queens wish. The name Desiree is too French for her. Desideria sounds more important. But they both mean the same thing: the desired one, th99lib.nete wanted one."

"Marie, did you hear? The Swedish people want Jean and me to be their next king and queen. The people chose us, Marie. We shant be like Joseph and Julie."

"And youll come to Sweden with Oscar and me?"

I wonder what my new mother-in-law, the queen of Sweden, is like. I dont even know her name. Most mothers-in-law are a difficult problem. Will a royal one be worse than the rest? Or shall I be able to deal with her?

"If Im really the wanted one. But you yourself must never call me Desideria. Do you promise me that?"

I said nothing, so he went on: "Please listen, Desiree. We must all become Swedish citizens, you and Oscar and myself. I want the Emperors permission for this. Do you agree?"