Playing the Royal Game

‘Aren’t you cross that Lucinda never told you?’

‘I admired her for it,’ Bobby said, and he looked to the queen. ‘There’s something about a woman who can keep her silence, something rare about such a woman.’ And he was a touch awkward then, remembering suddenly the rumors he had read when finding out a little more about Allegra’s fiancé. But the memory actually helped, for he wasn’t awkward any more. He looked at the queen and thought there might be a teeny flash of tears in her eyes, and he looked again, for she really was a very beautiful woman. But there was such a sadness to her and, queen or not, Bobby knew how to talk to women. ‘I regret a lot of things, but I can’t regret how my son was raised—she did a wonderful job. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but I guess we all do.’

‘You can’t when you’re a queen.’

‘You’re a woman first.’

‘Oh, no.’ She shook her head, but Bobby didn’t leave it.

‘Well, you look like a woman to me. Whole lot of trouble, all of you!’ He saw her pale smile. ‘Anyway, guilt causes more problems and solves none of them. I need to be a parent to him, not try to be his friend. Like I said, we all make mistakes—’

‘We do. Indeed,’ Zoe broke in, and they shared a small smile.

‘Not Allegra though,’ Bobby said. ‘If that’s what’s worrying you. From when she was a little girl I used to say to Julie, that girl was born to be a mum! You should see her with her brothers and sisters. She doesn’t seek the limelight, our Allegra, doesn’t go looking for drama. She’s a great girl, more sensible than the lot of us put together—your son’s going to be a very happy man. Anyway...’ Bobby stood. ‘It’s been a pleasure to get to know you a little better, Zoe. I’m looking forward to spending more time with you and your family.’

He was rough, he was crass, but he was completely and utterly charming, and Zoe could see why his women forgave him. Absolutely she could see why his country adored him.

She’d never hinted, not to a soul, that she was anything less than perfect, that mistakes might even be made, yet somehow this morning...

She felt liberated.

She liked the Jacksons’ energy that was in the palace.

She liked Allegra too.

She looked at the papers and picked up her tea, her hand shaking a little as she read of the people’s reaction to the union      , the in-depth pieces, the endless photos and the headlines that screamed, and wondered how the young couple would deal with this morning’s news.

The queen often meddled, at least where her children were concerned, and leaving her quarters she crossed the palace, heading to the kitchen, meeting a maid at the lifts.

‘You know we have several extra guests this morning.’ She gave a reason as to why she was there. ‘Where are these going?’

‘For Prince Alessandro,’ the more senior maid informed her. There were two of them to take up the huge trolley, laden with coffees and pastries and the newspapers; the butler would of course take it in. ‘He asked for breakfast at seven.’

‘Leave Prince Alessandro.’

‘He asked to be woken at seven.’ The maid was nervous, but used to this, for often the queen interfered.

‘Give him an hour.’ The queen smiled, because if she was right, then just about now, Alessandro would be crawling into bed—and if she was wrong, oh, well! ‘They did not get to bed till late. If there are any repercussions, just say it was on my orders.’

She watched as the maids wheeled the trolley back towards the kitchen and went back to her quarters and sat down, picked up her set of the newspapers and carried on reading.

Alessandro and Allegra surely needed that hour together, before they had to face this.

* * *

Allegra did sleep, not much, certainly not enough to prepare for the wretched day ahead and the barrage of press and demands from his family, but she did sleep a little, listening to the ocean, seeing the shadows of the fire dance across the room. Then she heard a few bleeps of his alarm and then nothing, for Alex did not seem to awaken. She wondered if she should tell him, remind him perhaps, for any minute the servant would be in, but she lay there in silence instead, holding her breath when finally he moved. He closed the windows, for the room was freezing, and stared at the bed where she lay on her side.