H.R.H.

“I met your aunt Marque in Russia,” she said finally, not knowing what else to say to her. She looked as though she had a lot on her mind, or a thorn in her side somewhere. It was obvious that something was bothering her, and maybe had been for a long time.

“It's amazing how many people know her,” Laure said quietly.

“She's a lovely woman,” Christianna said with feeling, remembering when they had met in Russia.

“She's more than that. She's a saint of some kind. Did you know she lost her husband and both her children? She stayed too long when war broke out in the Sudan. And in spite of that, she still loves it here. She has Africa in her blood. And now she devotes her life to other people. I wish I could be more like her, giving to others the way she does. I hate it here.” Christianna was startled by the words. For Laure, it was a long speech and a surprising admission.

“There aren't many people who can do what she does,” Christianna said gently. She was flattered that this woman who seemed to be sealed so tight had opened up to her. “I think it's a gift.”

“I think you have that same gift,” Laure said quietly, as Christianna stared at her in disbelief.

“How can you say that? You don't even know me.” She was flattered by the words. It was a huge compliment, particularly from her.

“I watched you coming out of the classroom yesterday with Ushi. You spoke to everyone, you had children hanging all over you. And when I picked up the records at Mary's office, all her AIDS patients were talking about you. That's a gift.”

“You're good with children, too. I see you smile every time you talk to them.”

“Children are always honest,” Laure said sadly. “It's the adults who never are. They lie, they cheat, they wound. I think most people are profoundly bad.” It saddened Christianna to hear her say it, and was a sad statement about the young woman's life and the experiences she must have had.

Listening to her, and seeing the look in her eyes, Christianna decided to take a risk. “Betrayal is a terrible thing, particularly by people we love.”

There was a long pause as Laure watched her, as though deciding whether or not to trust her, and then finally she did. “They told you why I came here. I suppose it's not a secret. Everyone in Geneva knew it … and Paris … and everywhere else … even here. I was engaged to a man who made a total fool out of me, with my supposedly best friend.” She sounded bitter as she said it, but even more than that, wounded and sad.

“Don't give him the satisfaction of letting it destroy you. He doesn't deserve that, and neither does your socalled best friend who ran off with him. Sooner or later they'll pay a price for that. Things like that come back to haunt you in the end. You don't find happiness at someone else's expense.” There was something quietly reassuring about what Christianna said. She had been praying to find the right words to say to this injured girl.

“They're having a baby. She was already pregnant when they ran off. He got her pregnant while he was engaged to me. I didn't find that out till later. To add insult to injury.”

As Christianna listened to her, she suddenly thought of words she had heard almost daily in Berkeley, and there was no way to translate them into French. She asked Laure cautiously if she spoke English. She nodded seriously and said she did. Christianna looked at her and smiled.

“In that case, all I can say about them is, ‘that sucks.’ It was a disgusting thing for them to do to you.” Laure smiled too as she heard the words, and then suddenly she grinned, and finally started to laugh.

“That's the silliest thing I ever heard,” Laure said, laughing. She was even more beautiful when she laughed. She was a striking-looking girl, and it was hard to believe she'd been jilted. He had to have been a fool to leave her, particularly as he did.

“It is silly, isn't it?” Christianna said, giggling. “But it kind of says it all, doesn't it? That sucks,” she repeated with vigor, and suddenly they were just two young girls sitting by a stream, and life seemed suddenly simpler. They were like two kids who had just finished school. “He must have been a fool. When we drove up in the bus two days ago, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.” It was true. Laure was a spectacular-looking girl.

“Don't be silly.” Laure looked embarrassed. “I look like a tree. I've hated being tall all my life. I always wanted to be small like you. In fact, the woman he ran off with, my so-called best friend, looks a lot like you. It upset me the moment I saw you. And then when you just asked me to go for a walk with you, I told myself that she's not you. I'm sorry if I've been rude. At first, every time I looked at you, I saw her, and I was angry at you.”

“You weren't rude,” Christianna lied to her, “you just looked sad.”

“No,” Laure insisted. “I was rude. But you reminded me so much of her.”