The King's Bride

because she

was a historian that didn’t mean she must live in the past. With the house gone she would put everything behind her, abandon her book on Alphonse, and find a new life for herself.

Her anger lasted until she was indoors and under the shower. But the hot water couldn’t lave her grief away and she let the tears come freely. She was a woman who never cried, but she cried now for the magic that had been a delusion, and for a feeling that she knew would never come again as long as she lived. Tonight she would let herself mourn what might have been. Tomorrow she would put it behind her and become a different woman, a more resolute and, if necessary, a harder one. Her mourning was for that too.

She spent the next day making plans. By evening the house bore a ‘For Sale’ notice and she told herself that things were proceeding wonderfully. Now all she wanted was to get out of here fast. She obtained some tea chests and began packing things away. With luck she could be out in a few days, leaving an agent to sell the house.

She worked blindly while the thoughts thrummed through her head. Everything that had happened in Voltavia had been an illusion, including Daniel’s feelings. She’d been useful to him. Now he had what he wanted, and she was disposable. That was all there was to it. At least she had the advantage of knowing exactly where she stood. As she threw things into tea chests her anger mounted.

Midnight passed, then one, then two in the morning. With her mind in turmoil there was no point in going to bed. She was still working frantically when the front bell rang. She opened the door and at once a hand came through the gap, preventing her slamming it closed.

‘Don’t shut me out,’ Daniel begged. ‘Not until you’ve heard what I have to say.’

‘We’ve said everything. Please go away Daniel. Nothing can make it right, and why bother?’

‘Listen to me!’ As she turned away he seized her shoulders fiercely. ‘You have to.’

‘Don’t tell me what I have to do. I’m not one of your subjects.’ She wrenched free and went into the kitchen to put on the kettle. It was a way of not looking at him. If he saw her face he might also see the leap of joy she hadn’t been able to suppress at the sight of him. She thought she’d controlled it now, but she couldn’t be sure, and it was wisest not to trust him.

He followed her and stood watching as she moved about. ‘Not a word?’ he asked at last. ‘I turn up at this hour and you’re not even curious?’

‘What is there to be curious about? I’m sure you snapped your fingers and everybody jumped. Did they hold the plane for you?’

‘There wasn’t one. I chartered a special plane because all I could think of was getting to you. And I find a “For Sale” sign and you packing to leave.’ His voice became tinged with anger. ‘You really weren’t going to give me a second chance, were you?’

‘You don’t need a second chance,’ she cried. ‘You’ve got everything you wanted. And you were brilliant. I’ll give you that. You schemed and manipulated like a pro. But then, of course, you are a pro. A king would have to be. Well done, Your Majesty. But don’t expect me to applaud and say it’s all right.’

‘Do you really believe that?’ he asked quietly. ‘You think there was nothing in my feelings for you but scheming?’

She shrugged. ‘Why deny it? It’s a perfectly honourable

position for a king. Not for a man, of course, but what does that matter? The man can always hide behind the king, and that’s what you’re good at.’

He was about to hurl an angry reply at her when he caught a look at her face and read in it the misery and exhaustion of the last thirty-six hours.

‘I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you,’ he said. ‘It’s true I wasn’t honest with you at the start, but I swear that was only for a short time. It didn’t take me long to see how good and true you are, how much better than my fears. If you’ll let me, I’ll spend my life making it up to you.’

But his words washed over her. She couldn’t answer. She could only look at him sadly, thinking of the chance that was lost for ever.

‘How is Bess?’ he asked.

‘Holding on, but she’s very weak. I’m visiting her today.’

‘Good, because it’s partly her that I came to see.’

‘You can’t be serious.’

‘I was never more serious in my life. Since you left I’ve been reading all the letters-both sides of the correspondence, fitted together-and I’ve seen many things. I’ve seen that my grandfather wasn’t at all the way he seemed, cold and remote. He was a man with a warm heart, which he found hard to show, except to her. But I’ve seen something else. Lizzie, you must let me meet Bess. I know now that she virtually raised me.’

‘Whatever do you mean by that?’

‘I mean that she guided my grandfather in his dealings with me. He’d have got everything wrong if she hadn’t put him on the right path. I told you about the dog, the music lessons-it was her doing. But for her my life would have

been so different, so much harder. She has been almost my mother, and I must thank her while there’s still time.’

‘She’s a very old woman,’ Lizzie said slowly. ‘She hardly knows what’s happening-’

‘All the more reason for you to take me to her, today. And there’s another reason-something I must tell her before anyone, even before you.’

His voice rang with sincerity but Lizzie was bruised from their last encounter. She searched his face, desperately seeking an answer.

‘Lizzie, you must trust me,’ he cried passionately. ‘I beg you to believe me this one time.’

‘Very well,’ she said slowly. ‘I’ll take you to see Bess.’

Bess had come through her heart attack weak but lucid. They found her lying propped up against some pillows. She smiled at the sight of Lizzie, but her smile turned to awe when she saw Daniel. Frail though she was, she instinctively reached out a hand to him, and Daniel took it at once.

‘You,’ she whispered. ‘You-’

Lizzie drew a quick, dismayed breath. ‘Bess-it’s not-’

‘No, my dear, it’s all right. I didn’t really think-well, perhaps for a moment.’

To Lizzie’s pleasure, Daniel sat beside the bed and spoke to Bess quite naturally. ‘I believe I look very like my grandfather.’

‘A little,’ she conceded. Then her eyes twinkled as she added, ‘Of course, he was much better looking. Just the same, I would have known you anywhere.’

‘We have been acquainted for a long time,’ Daniel said gently, ‘although I’ve only just found out. It was you who softened his heart-’

‘Oh, no,’ Bess said quickly. ‘He always had a great heart. But it was imprisoned. He used to say that I had set him free.’

‘Yes,’ Daniel said gravely. ‘That’s very easy for me to believe-now. Won’t you please tell me about him. How did you meet?’

‘It was fifty years ago. He came to London for the Queen’s coronation, and he went to the theatre one evening. The show was Dancing Time, starring Lizzie Boothe. She wasn’t Dame Elizabeth in those days, but she was at the height of her fame and beauty. After the performance he came backstage to meet the cast, and I was there too, lurking in the shadows to catch a glimpse of him. He noticed me and made someone bring me forward. My knees were knocking, I was so nervous. But he smiled at me, and suddenly I wasn’t afraid any more.’

There was a hint of mischief in Bess’s voice as she said, ‘After that I was weak at the knees for another reason. He invited himself to lunch next day, and of course he brought an aide, and the aide whispered in my ear that His Majesty would like to speak to me alone. And when I saw him he told me that he loved me. It was as simple as that.’

‘But what about the Dame?’ Lizzie asked.

‘She was our friend,’ Bess said at once. ‘She let us use her as “cover”. It was all right for people to believe he admired her, in a theatrical kind of way. He once said, “I don’t mind if people think I’m a glorified stage-door Johnny.”’