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The Prince was the first to realise that the music had stopped. He mumbled something about the need to escort the Princess back to her parents, but neither moved while continuing to stare into each other’s eyes. And what only seemed like a mere second in time to the young couple, they eventually made their way across the floor where they were met by the Chaperone, who whispered to Anatole that he had to ask to dance with Princess Louisa immediately! She also told him that she would explain her behaviour later if he would meet her in the garden once he returned Louisa to her parents. For some unknown reason, neither he nor Eugénie questioned her apparent strange request.

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The Chaperone was most fearful for Prince Anatole, as she knew that the Grand Duke had other spies present and that he would soon hear of the undeniable attraction between Anatole and Eugénie since anyone with an iota of sense could see that each was falling under the spell of the other.

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After Prince Anatole had escorted Princess Louisa back to her parents following their dance, he made his way to the garden where he found the Chaperone seated. She quickly came to the point of her need to speak to him. She told him that the Grand Duke had decided that the Princess Eugénie would become his wife and he would look very unkindly on anyone that interfered with his plans. Anatole smiled and said that she must be mistaken since the Grand Duke was older than the Princess’ father! The Chaperone said that his previous wives had been of a similar age to the Princess and that all he was interested in was the bearing of a son!

The Chaperone continued by saying that Prince Anatole needed to end any idea of a relationship with the Princess, as the Grand Duke was of a jealous and vengeful nature and that he would no doubt come to a nasty end if he caused the Grand Duke’s plan to go astray! She said that she could arrange a meeting with the Princess and himself in the Alexander II Park (known since 1954 as the Taras Shevchenko Park of Culture and Recreation) at noon the next day so that he could end all notions of his continuing any relationship with the young Princess. With that, and without waiting for an answer, the Chaperone stood up and walked away towards the Ballroom.

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Of course, the unanswered question that has now arisen is why did the Chaperone go against the Grand Duke’s wishes and allow Prince Anatole to know of the dastardly plan? It would seem that when she was young, she had once been in love with a young officer whose parents took him out of the country when they learned of his relationship with her. The Chaperone was devastated by this and was destined thereafter to be a governess and now a paid informant. Neither employment pleased her, but she had little choice now in the choice of her profession.

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