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Chapter Six<br />
The Royal Yacht the Victoria and Albert - Skagerrak Strait<br />
June 16, 1889<br />
7:28 PM<br />
If there was anything more startling than the beauty of the afternoon it was the fact that it seemed<br />
it would never end.<br />
Their second day aboard the royal yacht The Victoria and Albert was coming to a close and the<br />
ship was slowly making its way from the fretful waters of the North Sea into the Baltic, which was<br />
rumored to be more tranquil. “Nothing more than a big lake,” one of the sailors promised Emma and<br />
then he had pointed a short calloused finger toward a distant land mass and added “Denmark.”<br />
She wanted to believe him. Perhaps the worst was literally behind them now. The crew all<br />
swore that as they sailed deeper into the waters of Scandinavia that the last three days of the voyage<br />
would become ever more scenic and pleasant, a gentle drift through high-walled fjords and charming<br />
fishing villages. That was when the team would have time to confer, to gather their forces and make<br />
the many decisions necessary if they were to convincingly carry out this masquerade.<br />
The ship carrying Queen Victoria and the others had left the harbor of London at two in the<br />
morning. Yesterday morning, Emma supposed, although it was hard to think of time in that way. It<br />
had been instructed that the royal colors would not be raised until midday, when they would be far<br />
from the city, somewhere off the rocky coast of Scotland. Victoria did not like for her subjects to be<br />
made aware of the fact that the Queen was not in London. She felt her absence gave rise to anxiety<br />
among the citizenry.<br />
For the majority of the first day Emma had not left her cabin. She had been placed in what was<br />
called the Princess Royal’s room, a lovely if somewhat overwrought little nook tucked behind the<br />
stairs with pale salmon walls and a ceiling fashioned entirely in plaster imitations of shells. The high<br />
maple bed was bolted to the floor and there was reliable electricity and a modern toilet, which she<br />
had made use of with regularity as they pulled away from the coastline of Great Britain and entered<br />
the North Sea. She was fortunate indeed compared to the men, who were apparently making do in the
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