Royally Bedded, Regally Wedded

Her voice was staccato, and probably sounded abrupt. She didn’t care.

A frowning expression formed on his face.

‘Is there more bad news?’ Lizzy persisted.

‘Other than what was expected? No. Did you not see any of the coverage?’

‘No. It was the last thing I wanted to do. But in which case, if nothing worse has happened, why are you here?’

He looked at her. He had that closed expression on his face. Obviously he wasn’t used to being spoken to like that, thought Lizzy. But she didn’t care. Tension bit in her.

‘I am here at the behest of my father. For reasons that must be obvious even to yourself, Miss Mitchell.’

His words were terse.

She looked blank. ‘I don’t understand.’

His mouth pressed together tightly, and he looked impatiently at her.

‘We will discuss this matter later.’ He turned his attention back to Ben. Shutting her out.

Dismissing her.

Anxiety and tension warred within her.

How she got through breakfast she did not know. She could not relax, and, although she deplored it, she knew she was grateful that Ben was chattering away to the Prince, making it possible for her to swallow a few morsels of food through a tight throat.

The moment Ben had finished, she got to her feet.

‘Come along, Ben,’ she said.

‘Tio Rico said we’d go swimming,’ Ben protested.

‘Not straight after eating,’ she said quietly. ‘You’ll get a sore tummy. And anyway, you need to brush your teeth,’ she added, steering him out of the room.

As she gained the large hallway, she felt her stomach sink. Oh, God, now what? Why had he come back here? And why should it be obvious to her? Nothing was obvious to her. Nothing. Only that she was desperate for all this to be over, and for her to be able to go home with Ben.

But it seemed that she would have to get through another morning here.

After Ben had brushed his teeth they went back down to the drawing room, where Ben’s toys were.

Prince Enrico was there before them. Lizzy tensed immediately.

‘This is a good train track, Ben,’ he said.