guardian of our new Crown Prince. It’s a very satisfactory thing to happen. You and this lady? Yes and yes and yes.’
‘Levout said at the end of one month you intend to go back to Paris,’ the first player told him, settling in for a mid-road chat. ‘We asked how is that possible-when the country needs a ruler as much as we do? But of course it’s nonsense. Miss will never leave the children. And you…the rumour is that the lady, your mother, was not exactly truthful with your father. All the servants are whispering. Before when we don’t see you we accept that she play- how you say-fast and loose. But you…you are a de Gauiter. Yes and yes and yes. So now…This is good.’ He grinned. ‘This miss will need much comfort. And not in Paris.’
‘Hey, I do not need much comfort,’ Pippa squeaked, tugging herself away. As much as she could. Which wasn’t very far, as Max’s arms still held her.
‘Miss, if you need to deal with the likes of Levout and his compatriots you will need help,’ the woman said. ‘He is like an octopus. His tentacles are everywhere. His people will wish you nothing but evil.’
‘That’s nonsense,’ Max said, but he felt suddenly uneasy. Or more uneasy. These people were verbalising what he already suspected.
And her words were heard and understood by Pippa. ‘Let’s go home,’ she said, no longer laughing. ‘Marc-’
‘He’s fine.’
‘Yes, but I want to go home. Please, Max.’
‘Sure,’ he said and he let her go.
‘You keep them all safe,’ the woman said.
‘This is a wonderful family,’ another added. ‘We wish you joy.’
‘We wish us all joy,’ the woman added. ‘And maybe it comes true. Maybe it comes true for all of us.’
They drove for the next few minutes in silence. Max stared straight ahead, his mind whirling.
What they’d said was right. He couldn’t leave her.
But his mother…His construction company…How could he let them go? And how could he stay here? He’d stay here for what? To keep Pippa safe? And spend the rest of his life in the goldfish bowl as well?
He wanted to pick them all up and take them back to Paris. Be done with the whole sordid mess.
Hell.
‘If you grip the steering wheel any harder you’ll break it,’ Pippa said conversationally, and he eased his grip. A little. With enormous difficulty.
‘It’s not a great choice, is it?’ she said softly.
‘No.’
‘By Friday next week, you say?’
‘Yes.’
‘There’s a lot of thinking for both of us,’ she whispered. ‘Meanwhile…Max, please don’t kiss me any more. It clouds the issues and we badly don’t need clouds.’
The vague sense of unease they’d felt at the player’s mention of evil was unfounded. They arrived back as the last of the day’s sun played tangerine light on the massive stone walls and turrets, turning the place into more of a fairy-tale setting than it already was. Pascal-Marie, the butler, met them sedately, and Beatrice was close behind. All was well.
‘The children have gone to sleep,’ Beatrice told them. ‘They were too excited to have an afternoon nap. Because the formal photograph session is set for eight tonight, we fed them early and put them to bed. I thought we could wake them at seven.’
‘I’ll check them,’ Pippa said, crossing to the stairway.
‘Pippa?’ Max called after her and she paused, three stairs up.
‘Yes?’
Pippa.
He couldn’t think of a thing to say.
‘Oh, there is a problem with your dog,’ Beatrice added and Pippa stilled. Maybe all wasn’t well.
‘With Dolores?’
‘She’s asleep by the fire in the front sitting room,’ Beatrice said. ‘She romped with the children in the fountain this afternoon. Like a great puppy. We dried her off, and she went to sleep in the sun. It’s probably laziness but when the children went up to bed they couldn’t persuade her to join them.’
She was through to the sitting room in an instant. Max followed.
The old dog was still sleeping. This room faced south west, with windows all round. Dolores would have had direct sunlight, with the fire adding a little top-up warmth if necessary. The rugs here were inches thick. Why would an old dog move? Max thought appreciatively.
‘Dolores,’ Pippa whispered and dropped to her knees. The dog opened her eyes, gave her tail a feeble wag and closed her eyes again.
Pippa lifted the old head and cradled it on her lap, running her hand over her flank, letting her fingers lie on her chest. ‘Dolores?’
‘Is she okay?’ Max asked, feeling he was intruding on something personal.
‘She’s okay,’ Pippa whispered, laying her cheek on the old dog’s head. ‘She’s just really, really old, and it’ll have been exciting with the children today. The vet told us that this would be her last winter.’ She looked up at Max and her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. ‘But thanks to you she’s had a summer instead of a winter. She has sunbeams and log fires.’
But still that sheen of tears. ‘Hey…’
‘Could you carry her upstairs for me?’
‘To the children’s bedroom?’
‘I might stay in a room by myself tonight,’ she murmured, stroking the dog’s soft ears. ‘The beds are big but not so big to hold three kids, me
Dolores and me. She was sleeping with a dog. Dolores nuzzled against her cheek and he found it within himself to be jealous of a disreputable, ancient Labrador-something.
‘Fine,’ he managed, neutrally, and he stooped to lift her.
Pippa rose with him, her hands still on the big dog’s head.
Dolores’ eyes stayed closed.
‘She trusts you,’ Pippa whispered. ‘She knows people, does Dolores. She’s never been wrong yet.’
She was too close. The hint of tears in her eyes was damn near his undoing.
Dolores gave a gentle snore, breaking the moment.
‘You’re sure you want to sleep with her?’
‘What’s a little snoring between friends?’
What indeed?
He was gazing at Pippa. She was stroking Dolores’ ears.
‘Let’s go,’ she said, and he thought, Right, let’s go.
He so badly wanted to gather her into his arms. How could he do that with an armful of dog?
It was just as well he couldn’t, he thought. What he wanted wasn’t…sensible.
So he carried her dog upstairs. Pippa hurried up before him, and by the time he reached the bedroom beside the children’s she was spreading a feather-down quilt she’d tugged out of the blanket box.
‘That’s probably an heirloom,’ he said and she put her hands on her hips.
‘Well?’
‘Nothing,’ he said meekly, and set Dolores down.
Dolores opened one eye and her tail gave an infinitesimal wag.
‘I’ll light the fire,’ He said. It was already set in the grate. The room hardly needed heating yet he knew she’d want the dog warm. Besides, it gave him a reason to stay an extra few moments.
‘We’ll be right,’ Pippa said, and walked to the door and held it wide, waiting for him to go. ‘Thank you, Max.’
He was being dismissed. She needed a rest, he thought. Or she needed to be alone with her dog.
‘Photographs at eight?’
‘I’ll be there.’
