‘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.
‘Nick will do whatever needs doing,’ she declared. ‘He’s a very responsible boy.’
‘Yeah?’ That was Rose. She’d been hugging Julianna, but her attention was caught by that. Her eyes flew to Nick’s. ‘Responsible-is he just? Well, well. I’d never have thought it.’
And suddenly she smiled, then gave him a measured look which was suddenly all about who’d remembered the condom last night. It was like the sun had come out. After all this emotion, after all this fear, she was suddenly teasing him.
He’d never realised he could blush.
‘Why don’t you want the throne?’ Julianna asked Rose.
‘I suspect no one’s asked Rose what she’s wanted for a very long time,’ Ruby said, putting her oar in again. ‘Did you know her mother-and father-in-law were trying to make her have babies with her dead husband’s sperm?’
No one knew what to say to that. Especially Nick. He stared at Ruby. Then he stared at Rose. Appalled. ‘Is this true?’
Rose nodded, her eyes suspiciously bright. ‘Yes, but how Ruby found out…’
‘I found out exactly the same way as Monsieur Fritz found out about Nick,’ Ruby said with asperity. ‘My friend Eloise at my macrame club told me she’d been talking to someone who was asking about you, Nick. So I did the same. I have a friend who lives in your district in Yorkshire, Rose, and I got an in-depth report of what you’ve been going through. You’ve been bullied into taking over your poor husband’s life, and now you’ve been bullied into taking over this one. Enough.’
‘I chose.’ Rose ventured.
‘The worst of two alternatives,’ Nick said slowly, watching her. And suddenly things were clear. Or as clear as they could be in the circumstances. She should never have been asked to do this, he thought. In all of this, that she’d been asked to take on more responsibility…
‘Why did you ask Rose?’ he said to Erhard, and there was something in his voice that made them all turn to him. ‘Rose’s father thought Rose wasn’t royal. You’ve inferred Julianna wasn’t Eric’s legitimate child either. You’ve said the DNA thing isn’t an issue, but maybe it could be. You didn’t go down that path. Why not? Shouldn’t I have been the one to take responsibility?’
‘But I didn’t know you,’ Erhard said bluntly.
‘You didn’t know Rose.’
‘I did.’ Erhard was still clutching his brandy glass as if he needed it, but a little colour had crept back. ‘Rose was here until she was fifteen. She was always the reliable one. Her mother was ill. Her father was a drunk. The old Prince was failing. She took everything on her shoulders, worrying about everything. When I enquired about her, it seemed she’d kept right on doing that in Yorkshire. She was responsible, and that was what I wanted.’
‘You wanted Rose to keep on taking the burden.’
‘I didn’t think.’
‘No,’ Nick said gently. ‘We couldn’t expect you to be thinking of Rose’s welfare. You were frightened for your country and you wanted what was best. Rose is the best. We all know that. But it’s time someone looked out for her interests. That time is now, and that someone is me.’
Rose was looking confused. He reached out and tugged her against him, feeling almost compelled to hold her
