Pascale Auber & the Ruritanian Riddle

LXXI A Shocking Revelation - 1

"You ought to sit. What I am about to tell you is shocking."

I frowned at Hentzau, but he gestured to the other overstuffed chair, unwilling to speak until I was sitting across from him. I sat.

"Well, Mr. von Hentzau?"

"I said before that I would rather you called me by my Christian name. There is no pretty way to say it," he quietly admitted, "But I admit that I have been less than gentlemanly. I have deceived you since the moment we exchanged introductions. Legally, my name -" he began.

"Isn't Hentzau," I interrupted.

His mouth fell open and he stared at me. "What? How could you possibly have known?"

I indicated his red curls with a gesture. "The hair. Don't nearly all Ruritanian royalty have this particular shade of deep red hair? Besides, I read the papers. If it weren't for the age difference, King Rudolf of Ruritania could be your twin."

"My father used to say so, yes." A small smile crossed his face. "So, as it seems you know all, do you forgive my fiction?"

"Readily," I replied. "But I most certainly do not know all! I require details. So your proper name - "

"Theo von Elphberg," He announced, as though it were obvious.

"Elphberg?" Theo might think it obvious, but I was mildly surprised - if he actually used the name, that implied that the old king had publicly acknowledged Theo as his son. It was odd that my boss had not been aware of the acknowledgement, though perhaps a great deal of effort had been expended to keep the information private, if not exactly secret.

"Of course. You do realise that children in Ruritania generally take their father's names? If they took their mother's names, my name really would have been Hentzau."

"Yes, yes, naturally," I said rapidly. Then I tasted his name on my tongue. "Theo von Elphberg. So, then, your Christian name truly is Theophilus?"

Theo laughed, his sense of relief clear on his face. The clerk down below looked up from his work for a moment; Theo frowned and when he spoke again, he had tempered his voice. "Well, one of them is - the third one - but it is the one I generally use, at least in shortened form. My friends have always called me Theo. My mother preferred the form 'Gottlieb'," he laughed, "which would have gone over very poorly at school."

"Your third name? What are the other two?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Shall I tell you how I am announced when at court in Streslau?"

I nodded, mystified. I had no idea that illegitimate royal scions even could be presented at court.

Theo drew himself up to his full height. "The announcements are made by a fusty, elderly courtier," he said, before clearing his throat. In a reedy imitation of an old man, he announced, "Rüdiger Wolfgang Theophilus, Prinz von Ruritania."

I stared at him. "You're Prince Rüdiger of Ruritania?!"