She wanted to know her title.
“None that I know of, she was in service as a young lady.”
Oh, and that killed that line of questioning. I did think about telling her that she was a drinking pal of Queen Mary but let it go.
When I dropped her off she kissed me on the cheek and murmured, it is a shame you are only a knight and an actor. If you were rich and titled you would be very interesting.
Silence is a good tactic. On the way home I thought about her and her life. Being a Noble didn’t necessarily mean that life was a bowl of cherries.
In Lady Pamela’s case, I thought she was all fur and no knickers.
Chapter 31
Sunday was an easy day. Easy in the sense I had nowhere to go or nothing in particular to do. After my morning workout and breakfast, Grand Mum inquired about my date last night.
I tried to convince her that it wasn’t a date but a duty being performed. She didn’t see it like that. When she saw that I really hadn’t any interest in Pamela she changed her line of questioning.
Was the Duke there when I picked Pamela up. What did he have to say? How was he dressed? The more she talked about the Duke the more concerned I got. Did Grand Mum have her sights set on being a Duchess?
I wouldn’t be surprised if her new best friend hadn’t put her up to it.
When I made my Sunday call home it was almost a repeat of my conversation with Grand Mum except it was Mum doing the grilling. Dad didn’t even get on the line. I knew he was a smart man.
Eddie updated me on his Scouting. He had just made First Class and already had enough merit badges for Star. He just needed his time in grade. He loved the camping part.
He related how he was allowed to go on a Snipe hunt but they didn’t have any luck. I told him maybe next time, don’t give up.
Denny was excited as he had just got his learners permit and was taking driving lessons at school. How fast they grow up.
I spent the rest of the day reading ahead for my classes. I was holding my own. The end of term exams would tell me if I was doing okay. From the difficulty of the work I thought I would end up with high marks.
Monday was a normal school day, for whatever normal was any more. I attended all my lectures attended by my military escorts.
In the evening I had a phone call, I was to attend a meeting of the Queen’s Messengers at the Buck House on Tuesday. Darn, I would have to cut classes again.
This was to be all of the Messengers in country, both those that worked for Her Majesty and those who carried diplomatic pouches for the government.
This type of summons hadn’t occurred since I was involved so I was very curious. I drove down to London as it was a nice day and there was no hurry.
There were about fifty messengers there. I noticed that a few families were present. What really got my attention was that my family was there. What was going on?
They were seated in a separate area and the meeting was about to start so I couldn’t go over to them.
Mr. Norman took the stage and started things moving. He started with several banal announcements. Such things as one drink with dinner is acceptable on the expense account, but a dozen won’t be reimbursed. Wow, that is some heavy drinking.
The next was more interesting. Due to an incident where a Messenger came into physical danger, it was felt that more protection had to be given to each Messenger.
All Messengers were to become members of the armed force's active reserve. Those that had previous military units would go back into those units at their highest rank. This was most of the Messengers present.
It was felt if each were a member of the military foreign interests would think twice about causing trouble.
I wondered what would happen to me as the RAF had disowned me.
The Queen entered the room and all rose. This was the start of an awards presentation ceremony. The Messengers weren’t brought together very often so they were taking advantage of this gathering.
I was the fifth person called to the front for an award. Families joined the awardees on stage. That explained the presence of mine.
I was awarded the “Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct.” This was considered a minor award for both military and civilian use. The citation spoke of my being forced down in East Germany and escaping to the West.
It sounded like the award was a stick in the eye to the Communist rather than for my actions. All I did was run and fight as forced. It wasn’t as though I made any brave decisions and followed through at danger to myself.
The Queen had an additional announcement.
“Sir Richard is in an odd position. He is very young for what he is doing. As a Senior Queen’s Messenger, he is the equivalent rank of Colonel in the armed forces.”
“The RAF has no need for his services so he is currently the odd man out. Fortunately, Coldstream Regiment has agreed to carry him on their rolls though he will not be an active officer in the Regiment.”
“As we all know young men will get up to mischief if they are left on their own, so I have appointed him as an Aide-de-camp to the Commander in Chief.”
“He will be robbing dogs for me.”
This brought laughter from the crowd. In the US this would
