we could be at the palace in an hour. And of course there’d be suspicions, but the money transfer was impossible to trace and there was no proof. And hadn’t he succeeded with Konrad? A car crash with a drunk driver, he said, and he sounded really pleased with himself. No proof at all. And then Erhard…’
She looked wildly at Erhard, as if she couldn’t believe he could be here. ‘He said to whoever it was, “But you should have done better with Fritz. The old man turned up today. You were meant to hit him so hard he’d never stick his nose into what’s not his business again.” He had you bashed. He…’
‘He didn’t,’ Erhard said gently, reluctantly. ‘His thugs came to my home two weeks ago. My wife’s poodle raised the alarm. They killed our Chloe, but Hilda and I managed to escape.’ He closed his eyes, remembering the terror, but then he looked directly at Rose and then at Nick.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I should have told you. I thought with all the publicity he’d never try to hurt you two. I so wanted this wedding to go ahead. I took Hilda out of the country because she was terrified. I reassured her. But I didn’t think he’d try…I misjudged.’
‘We all misjudged,’ Julianna whispered. ‘I never thought he would, but he did. Jacques did. “We’ll get away with them both,” he told the guy on the end of the phone. I knew what he was saying. He’d killed Konrad and he was going to kill Rose and Nick.’
There was an appalled silence. Julianna was staring blindly at Rose. ‘You’re my sister, Rose,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t get away from that. When I thought of what he was planning…’
She swallowed, fighting for the energy to go on. ‘Finally I went downstairs and asked him,’ she managed. ‘Even then I couldn’t believe he’d go that far. But he just looked at me as if I was stupid, as if I was nothing. And then he hit me.’
‘Oh, my dear,’ Ruby whispered.
‘He pulled me back up to the bedroom and locked me in,’ Julianna said dully. ‘He ripped out my phone extension. He said I was in it up to my neck, and if I said a word I’d go down first. And I couldn’t get out. I tried and I yelled, but he laughed and told me to take a tranquillizer. Take five, he yelled. And then the phone rang downstairs. I heard Jacques say one word: “Well?” That’s all. Then silence.’
She swallowed, and Nick could see the horrors of the night were still with her. ‘I was sick,’ she whispered. ‘I thought it was over.’ She took a jagged breath and looked at Rose as if she still couldn’t believe her sister could still be alive. ‘Then the front door slammed and I heard his car. The lodge-keeper came by this morning and let me out, but Jacques was gone. I rang here and they said you were safe, but I had to see. The lodge-keeper brought me here.’ She shook her head as if trying to shake away a nightmare. ‘Rose, I swear I didn’t know what he intended. I’d never…I’d never…’
‘I know you wouldn’t,’ Rose said softly. Ruby moved aside-as Ruby would; the woman had the most finely tuned intuition Nick had ever known-and Rose took Julianna’s hands.
‘Even last night, when Nick said it had to be Jacques, I still knew it couldn’t be you,’ Rose said softly. ‘You’re my sister.’
‘Oh God,’ Julianna said, and she pulled back and put her face in her hands. ‘What must you all think of me? I don’t want this. I hate it. I want to be out. I want to be ordinary. I want to go somewhere, breed horses, take in washing, anything but this. I don’t want to be royal.’
‘Taking in washing’s a bit extreme,’ Rose said, and Julianna choked on something between laughter and a sob.
‘I don’t care. But how can I do anything? Jacques will never let me.’
‘No one owns you,’ Rose said. ‘I’m just figuring that out. You need to do what you need to do. As for the royal bit-can’t you resign?’
‘You can’t just resign.’
‘Edward did,’ Rose said. ‘Back in England. With Mrs Simpson. Isn’t that right? He was supposed to be king, but he signed something that said he was giving up his rights to the throne. Erhard, can’t Julianna resign?’
‘I don’t know.’ The old man looked grey. He groped blindly for a chair, and Nick pulled one forward for him.
There was too much emotion here, Nick thought. If he wasn’t careful Erhard would collapse. He strode out through the conservatory doors to the sitting room beyond. There were decanters on the sideboard. He poured a generous brandy for the old man and carried it back.
Erhard hardly registered when he placed it in his fingers. ‘I should have warned you of the dangers,’ he whispered. ‘I wanted this wedding to go ahead so much.’
‘Drink a little,’ Nick urged. ‘And don’t look like you’ve just confessed murder. We have our assassin from last night under lock and key, and everything else palls into insignificance.’ He shook his head. ‘And you’ve lost your dog. I suspect Rose will say there’s nothing so dreadful.’
Erhard looked up at him, and Nick smiled. He put a hand on the old man’s shoulder and squeezed.
‘We’re here now. We’re alive. We’ll find Jacques.’
‘And you’ll tell me the truth,’ Ruby said. Nick’s foster mother had been quiet for a whole five minutes now- almost a course record-but it seemed she’d been talking aside to Rose urgently. ‘Rose tells me this wedding
‘Rose?’ he said helplessly, and Rose shrugged and tried to smile.
‘Why not be honest? It is a fraud.’
‘But…’
‘That’s what you called it this morning,’ she said.
He had. But last night…Over and over the image played in his head. Rose standing in her bare feet and chemise, aiming her gun with her eyes filled with terror.
Rose against the world. Rose with bumblebees.
Rose in his arms.
But Rose was moving on. ‘If Julianna is resigning, then I could too,’ she said, attempting to sound brisk and businesslike. ‘I’ve just thought-if neither Julianna or I will take the crown, then Nick is Crown Prince. Which makes sense. My father wasn’t really royal, and you want it, don’t you, Nick?’
Did he want it? Suddenly they were all looking at him, and the question hung.
Of course he did. This had started as something that seemed exciting, almost as a Boy’s Own adventure. But somewhere in there…
‘My mother was a princess here,’ he said slowly. ‘She was so homesick. She’d want me to take it on…’
‘There you go, then,’ Rose said. ‘You can do it.’
‘But together,’ Ruby said urgently, sensing trouble. ‘Because you’re married.’
‘No.’ Nick took a deep breath. ‘Maybe it’s time for Rose not to be married.’
Ruby sighed. She put her hands on her hips and surveyed him with care.
‘Right,’ she said at last. ‘You know, I’m getting really muddled here. Didn’t you just get married yesterday?’
‘Yes, but Rose didn’t want to get married,’ he explained. ‘She did it out of obligation. Rose has had too many obligations for too long. Like Julianna, she needs to be free. If Julianna’s prepared to renounce her succession too, then it leaves Rose free to do what she likes. We can have the marriage annulled and she can renounce her succession too, if she wishes.’
‘I have a feeling the people in this country are going to get very confused,’ Ruby said darkly. ‘If I’m anything to go by, they’ll be very confused indeed.’
‘Maybe they’ll kick Nick out,’ Rose said. The group seemed to be reviving now. Just a little. Rose’s words contained just a trace of her old perkiness.
He loved that about her. He loved her to distraction. How could he let her go?
He could let her go, because he loved her.
‘You know, they might,’ Julianna said, breaking back into the conversation. She was suddenly tremulously hopeful. She’d faced the nightmare and come out the other side. ‘The riot when we put you under house-arrest was frightening. I’ve never seen anything like it. Until then I hadn’t realised…Maybe I still don’t realise what power the throne has.’
‘I can’t see Nick taking on the throne alone,’ Erhard said.
Ruby had been concentrating really, really hard. She still looked confused, but she wasn’t prepared to be relegated to the role of mere onlooker yet.
