There was a burst of applause as she finished and then Camilla, instinctively doing the right thing, walked forward to shake the Mayor and the Aldermen by the hand. They were obviously delighted at her gesture and they cheered her wholeheartedly as Captain Cheverly led her towards the yacht.
It was then that she saw for the first time the magnificent ship which, dressed in flags and bedecked with garlands of flowers, had been sent to convey her to her future country.
The Captain met them at the top of the gangplank, a good-looking elderly man wearing what seemed to Camilla a very elaborate over-decorated uniform. Some words her father had said many years ago came immediately to her mind.
“Officials of small countries and the least important Royalty,” he said, “always make themselves app
