Her title of 'Duchess' might be only a life title, a reminder (along with the Winton name that she added to her husband's when she married the Earl of Gold Peak) that she was sister to the King and one that she would not pass on to her children, but those who knew her considered her a perfect example of what a duchess could be.
'Earl Gold Peak's Centrist leanings—and thus those of Duchess Winton-Henke—are widely known,' Cromarty noted. 'Some may protest that a Centrist Prime Minister and a Centrist Regent would deprive the Opposition of a fair opportunity to influence policy. The Queen, of course, is above mere party lines.'
'True,' Dame Eliska agreed. 'Do you have any other suggestions?'
Cromarty toyed with his empty coffee cup. 'Perhaps a member of the Crown Loyalists would do. They regularly ally themselves with the Centrists, but they're not precisely of our ranks. Their respect for the Monarchy is absolute and should make Elizabeth's dealings with her Regent easier.'
'Good point,' Angelique said. 'Any off-the-cuff suggestions?'
'Howell, Ayre, and Dugatkin all suggest themselves,' Cromarty said promptly. 'Even if one of them isn't selected as Regent, I think a place on the Regency council for at least one of them would be wise.'
'Remember,' Caitrin reminded them all, 'Elizabeth is past sixteen. She must make the nomination. I suggest we present her with this slate and let her make the final decision.'
'I second that motion,' Jacob Wundt said. 'Elizabeth is certain to have ideas of her own. We would be foolish to waste time refining our choices further.'
Dame Eliska drew a line under her list and started a new page with the heading 'Marriage.'
'And the Queen's marriage?' she asked.
'I suggest,' the Queen Mother said, 'that I issue a personal statement reaffirming my support for Elizabeth's choice in her fiance. I cannot believe that Elizabeth will
'True,' Wundt said. 'He was with her at the holo viewing earlier today.'
'Timing for the marriage could be an issue,' Paderweski warned. 'Too quickly and she may be seen as callous. Too slowly and concern about the succession will be inevitable.'
'Elizabeth's coronation is tomorrow,' Wundt said. 'That and the King's funeral will feed the public desire for ceremony for a time. Perhaps asking her to delay her marriage until a politically sensitive moment would be wise.'
'It very well might sway the Commons,' Cromarty admitted. 'After Elizabeth's engagement, support for a few of King Roger's less popular policies rose there. I'm not certain a wedding would help much in the Lords beyond the Crown Loyalists.'
Dame Eliska drummed against the table with her stylus. 'It's hard to say. I can have my staff conduct some discreet opinion polls.'
'Good idea,' Caitrin said. 'On such a personal issue, I would prefer to present Elizabeth with more than our own conjectures.'
Nods rippled around the table.
Paderweski scribbled a note, then said, 'If we could take a few minutes for a distasteful subject before we adjourn, I would like to discuss protocol and arrangements for the funeral. It's been almost twenty-six T-years since the Kingdom dealt with a monarch's funeral. We're going to need to politely brief many of those who will be attending.'
'I,' said Queen Angelique, 'have attended at least one. If I might beg to be excused?'
She pushed her chair back from the table and unshed tears glittered in her dark eyes.
'Your Majesty,' Wundt said promptly, rising as well.
As one, the group rose, and Caitrin Winton-Henke looked after the retreating widow, remembering the society gossip nickname from many years before.
'Poor little beggar maid,' she whispered.
In another conference room, in another part of the same city, another very exclusive council was meeting. As with the council in Mount Royal Palace, several of the members would be recognized as public figures; unlike the royal council, it was the most heartfelt wish of these councilors that their meeting never become a matter of record.
Willis Kemeny, Ninth Earl of Howell, was perhaps the most nervous of the lot. A husky man whose chocolate brown skin suggested a crossover with the House of Winton some time in the past, he was a highly placed member of the Crown Loyalist party. His name was one of those bruited about as a possible successor when old LeBrun retired as Party head.
If pushed, trim, fashionable Lady Paula Gwinner, Baroness Gwinner of Stallman, would call herself a Liberal, yet a perusal of her voting record would reveal expedience rather than allegiance to a particular political philosophy. The youngest person present—a mere twenty-eight T-years—she defended her erratic votes as a reflection of her zeal in studying each issue. Most critics when caught beneath the glare of her golden-brown eyes chose to agree rather than argue.
Neither Marvin Seltman nor Jean Marrou were members of the House of Lords, but they each had held seats in the Commons for many terms. Their attention to the issues that would influence their constituents had made them popular and fairly secure. Marrou was even developing a following outside of her own district.
The last member of the group, Major Padraic Dover, was the only one who did not hold a seat in Parliament, yet in many ways he was the one most privy to the inner workings of the Palace. A native of Gryphon, he served in the Bordeaux Battalion of the King's Own Regiment. For the last eight years, he'd served as a liasion between the regiment and the PGS.
It was Dover who raised his wine glass in an ironic toast.
'The King is dead! Long live the Queen.' His voice dropped in tones equal parts menace and triumph. '
The fierce emotion in his voice could not escape his allies. Earl Howell frowned slightly.
'Elizabeth is not yet `ours,' ' he reprimanded primly. 'True, King Roger has been dispensed with, but we have yet to complete the maneuvers that will enable us to adequately influence the young Queen.'
Marvin Seltman, short, dour, ambitious, and embittered by the status quo, nodded agreement.
'But with the King dead,' he said, 'the field is much more open. Are those of you in the Lords ready to deal with the issue of the Regency?'
Howell and Gwinner nodded.
'We've instigated a whispering campaign in the Commons,' Seltman continued. 'It's difficult. Our house has always supported the monarchy strongly, but we're not really looking to undermine the monarchy—simply to suggest that a Regent who is too close kin to Queen Elizabeth won't be in a position to objectively direct her actions.'
'Good,' Howell said. 'I've been doing the same in the Lords. The Crown Loyalist's unstinting support of the monarchy stands me in good stead there. After the special session tomorrow, I'll have a better idea of what's being planned.'
'Cromarty,' Padraic Dover added, 'is at Mount Royal today. I doubt that the visit is purely social.'
'Certainly not,' Howell sniffed. 'Cromarty's Centrists may have been effective toadies to His Late Majesty, but he wasn't of their social circle.'
'Duchess Winton-Henke is also at Mount Royal,' Dover said. 'Her husband and children are due this evening.'
'Winton-Henke is a likely candidate for Regent,' Howell said. 'If you should hear anything that can be used to undermine her . . .'
'Of course I'll pass it on,' Dover said. 'However, I'm more interested in learning what you're doing regarding Justin Zyrr.'
'We're doing everything in our power to delay the wedding,' Jean Marrou spoke for the first time.
She was a naturally quiet woman, blind from birth. Her optical nerves would not respond to regeneration therapy simply because there had never been anything to regenerate. The reason for her blindness was uncertain, but she believed, as her parents had, that her mother's exposure to a strain of Artemesian measles brought in by a Solarian League trading ship had caused the damage.
Although the Star Kingdom had long traded actively with other systems, Jean Marrou's upbringing had
