Page 67 of Royally Redeemed
“That’s an American thing,” Mum said. “Mummy was like that. Americans are odd.”
“Excuse you!” Lucy laughed.
“You’re one of us. Calm down!” Her husband, Winston, observed.
I was home for two days as we finalized the tour—wardrobe, media prep, all of that. And while I’d like to say I got to spend the time with Ella, she was off entertaining her friend.
Lucy rolled her eyes. “I get it. But I worked for the Queen as an intern and got hired right onto staff. I had no business as such.”
“Duncan is right. You were delightfully rough at first,” Mum said. “But I think you picked it up too fast for us to remember. And by then, you’d caught George’s eye.”
I groaned. “Mum, you mustn’t bring that up.”
“Well, the other line of media inquiry into this focuses right on that. Is she just another Lucy Chandler?” Lucy feigned surprise.
I snickered.
“Well, if you’re a climber, you’re my favorite one, darling,” Mum said. “And Eloise does not strike me as such.”
“No. She’s very well-behaved, ma’am.” John stepped in, taking breakfast with us before the busiest day this week. “A kind sort.”
“Good. And you are satisfied with the arrangement your mother thrust on you?” Dad asked.
I didn’t want to explain that thrusting is what I wouldloveto be doingtoMiss Mills.
I cleared my throat. “Yes. She is helpful. We are doing well as a team, I think. Right, John?”
“Certainly, sir. I like Miss Mills. She’s always organized and does her homework. You almost forget she is so young as serious as she takes her role.”
“See, Luce, there you are,” Winston joked with his wife. “That was you.”
Lucy glared. “I’ll be ready to pass the torch then. Another generation should step up. I’m tired.”
“I think she’s more than prepared to do that,” John said.
There was an implicit assumption here. I should do the same. Marry a nice girl. Have fat babies. Become king. That was all it took, right? Instead, I spent my time chasing a girl more than a decade younger than me for what? An odd blowjob? I hadn’t even fucked her yet!
“I’m going to get my affairs in order before we get started,” I said. “I’ll see you all in there.”
I kissed my mother’s cheek and dispersed. I wandered down the hall to find the door to Ella’s office open. Was she in? I knocked on the doorframe and poked my head in.
She was there along with her friend sorting through boxes.
“Oh, hello,” Monique bowed slightly.
Ella looked at me.
“Your Royal Highness,” Ella curtsied oh-so-elegantly, looking less-than-enthusiastic. “Didn’t expect to see you. Did you not say the meeting was?—”
“It was later,” I acknowledged. “Itislater, rather. But I saw your door open, and wondered what was going on. Settling in, Miss Mills? And Miss Vincent, you’re assisting?”
“I agreed to carry a box. She gets up at the crack of dawn and drags me out. I have a job interview in an hour.”
“So we are wrapping up,” Eloise said. “Or, rather, I will put her in a cab, and she will return to find me still unpacking. I just wanted to get settled in now that it’s official.”
“Of course,” I said. “Good luck, Miss Vincent. You are thinking of moving to London?”
“I am.” The girl smiled. “And while I have my reservations about coming back to the UK, Ella is laying the pressure on thick.”
