‘I have to learn to fight my own battles, George.’
His only answer was to take a little white box from his pocket.
‘I was going to give you this before you left. A conversation starter at the Christmas dinner table. Something to make you smile.’ He handed it to her. ‘When you’re ready to try life on Mars, wear them to some dress-up gala and I’ll come and spring you.’
She looked up at him, then opened the box. Nestling in cotton wool were a pair of earrings that matched the mistletoe headband. She removed the studs from her ears and replaced them with the earrings. Clicked the tiny switch to set the lights twinkling.
‘Are they working?’ she asked.
By way of reply, he leaned forward, took her chin in his hand and kissed her, hard. Then he switched them off.
‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘Next time I do that it’s for keeps.’
He drove, without haste but sooner, rather than the later he would have wished for, they reached the village of Lacey Parva. Annie directed him to the entrance to her grandfather’s estate but as they cleared a bend there were dozens of cars, vans, even a TV truck parked along the side of the road.
‘Don’t stop,’ she said, ducking down as he slowed in the narrow lane and everyone turned to look. ‘Drive on,’ she muttered, scrabbling in her bag for her cellphone.
She switched it on, scrolled the news channels. Used that word she’d learned.
‘What?’ he asked.
‘Lydia’s missing,’ she said, desperately checking her texts. Her voicemail. ‘The world thinks I’ve been kidnapped.’
‘Have you?’
She shook her head. ‘No. She’s left a message to say that there’s nothing to worry about.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. So, is there another way into the estate?’
‘A dozen, but they’ll have them all staked out. Just keep going. I’ll show you where you can drop me off. I’ll walk to the house.’
‘Drop…You expect me to leave you by the side of the road?’
‘It’s all going to come out, George. If I can get to the house, the PR team can cobble together some story. There’s no need for you to be involved.’
‘That’s it? One setback and you’re going to run for cover?’
‘You don’t understand-’
‘I understand,’ he replied, his jaw so rigid that he thought it might break. Mars? Who did he think he’d been kidding? He was so far out on a limb here that Pluto was out of sight. ‘But you don’t actually have a say in the matter. I’m taking you home through the front gates,’ he said, swinging into a lay-by and turning back in the direction of the house. ‘It’s not open to negotiation, so if being seen with me is going to be difficult, then buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.’
‘Stop!’ she demanded. ‘Stop right here.’
And that, apparently, was all it took. ‘Damn you, Annie,’ he said as he brought the car to a halt, eyes front, his hands gripping the steering wheel. ‘I thought for a minute that we had something. A future.’
‘So did I. So what just happened?’ she demanded.
She was angry with him?
He risked a glance at her, felt a surge of hope, but this wasn’t the time to pussyfoot around, it was time for plain speaking.
‘Reality? Life?’ he offered. ‘I’m an ordinary man, Annie, from ordinary people. Yeoman stock. Farmers. Mechanics. Why would you want a Saxon when you should have a prince?’
‘Ordinary,’ she repeated. ‘It wasn’t dukes or barons that made this country great. It was hard-working, purposeful, good people like your family.
She reached out, took his hand from the wheel, held it in hers.
‘I love you, George Saxon, and I would be the proudest woman in Britain to be seen on every front page in the world with you, but this is going to be a media feeding frenzy. I simply wanted to protect you, protect your family from the fallout of my pathetic lack of courage. I should have talked to my grandfather years ago. I won’t let another night pass without telling him what I want.’
‘What do you want, Annie?’
‘You. A house filled with little Saxons. Xandra. Your parents. You…’
‘You’ve got me, angel. The rest comes included.’ And he lifted the hand holding his, kissed it. ‘As for the hounds at the gate, maybe the answer is to give them a bigger story than you disappearing for a week.’
‘Oh? What story did you have in mind?’
He smiled. ‘Switch those earrings on and I’ll show you.’
They could have spent the entire evening parked up in the wood but there were people to call, explanations to be made and they spent the next fifteen minutes making phone calls.
‘What did your family say?’ Annie asked.
‘My mother is thrilled. My father said I don’t deserve you. Xandra said, “Cool”. Yours?’
‘My grandfather is so relieved that I could have announced I was marrying a Martian,’ she said.
‘Then all we have to do is tell the world. Ready?’
‘Ready.’
He kissed her once more, then drove slowly up to the gates of King’s Lacey.
Cameramen surged forward as a policeman came to the window.
‘Lady Roseanne Napier,’ he said. ‘George Saxon. We’re expected.’
He peered in. ‘Lady Rose! You’re a sight for sore eyes. We’ve all been worried sick.’
‘Just a misunderstanding, Michael. We’ll make a statement for the press and then, hopefully, you can go home.’
‘No rush, madam,’ he said, opening the door for her, waving the press back. ‘The overtime comes in handy at this time of year.’
There was a volley of flashes as she stepped from the car. ‘Lady Rose! Who was the man in Bab el Sama, Lady Rose?’
‘I’m afraid I’ve no idea,’ she said, holding out a hand as George joined her. ‘I haven’t left England all week. And this is the only man in my life,’ she said, turning to him. Smiling only for him. ‘George Saxon. The man I love. The man I’m going to marry.’
For a moment they could have heard a pin drop. Then they lit up the night with their cameras as George lifted her hand to kiss it.
It was a photograph that went around the world.
FAMILY WEDDING FOR LADY ROSE
