To Marry a Prince (22 page)

The moment he cut the call his phone rang again. He looked at the screen and groaned.

‘Hello, Mother … Yes, so I hear. I’m surprised you have, though. I didn’t know you were on Twitter … Oh, Lady Pansy told you, did she? Don’t see her as a typical Twitterer either.’

There was silence, while he listened to what was clearly a vehement maternal lecture.

‘I’m not being evasive, Mother. I just haven’t made my mind up yet. Be assured that when I do you’ll be the first to know … What? No, not tonight. I’m talking to
my Press Secretary tomorrow about the options. And can I just point out that this is not life and death, or even a bad case of measles? Yes, we’ll clear any statement with Father. And you, of course.’

Another, shorter harangue.

Richard stiffened. Suddenly his voice turned icy. ‘Very well, Mother. Thank you. I will bear that in mind. Good night.’

He nearly shattered the phone when he pressed the Call End button. As soon as the thing started to ring again, he said, ‘Oh,
shit
,’ and switched it off entirely.

Bella went to him.

‘We’re in the soup, aren’t we?’

Lottie said hurriedly, ‘Don’t mind me. I’ll go and … and … And tidy something.’

But Bella said, ‘No, don’t go, Lotts. You’re good at this PR stuff. Richard, it’s OK if Lottie stays, isn’t it?’

He said with sudden bitterness, ‘You probably ought to have your own Press Team and a lawyer to boot. Of course Lottie must stay.’

Bella pulled herself together. ‘Then take your coat off and let’s talk. Lottie, can you think what you would advise us—’

‘You,’ said Richard swiftly. ‘This has to be
your
decision.’

Bella did not argue. ‘OK. What would you advise me to do, Lottie? Think about it. I’m going to make a pot of strong coffee and then we can sit down and talk. We need to agree a strategy.’

‘Cool,’ said Lottie, clearly relieved.

But Richard looked surprised.

‘Don’t worry about her,’ Lottie said kindly, leading him to the sofa. ‘That is one seriously together woman. You’re in safe hands. Trust me on this.’

Bella came back with a cafetière of maximum-strength medium roast, three mugs and two litres of semi-skimmed milk. Richard took his black. He swigged half a mug in one go. It was the only sign of agitation he betrayed.

‘I wish I smoked,’ said Lottie, who was less controlled than the Prince of Wales.

However, her summing up of the situation was masterly.

‘You have three options, Bella. First of all, you don’t have to say a thing. The photo is clearly Richard but it’s not so clear of you. You’ve done a good job of keeping below the radar so far. None of the Royal watchers have ever heard of you. You can keep your mouth shut and ride out the story.’

She paused, looking from one to the other of them.

‘Of course, that means you’ll have to stop seeing each other. The story’s out there now and the Press are going to keep after Richard until they find the answer to the secret of his mystery companion.’

Richard said swiftly, ‘
An
answer. I doubt if they’d ever be able to identify you for sure, Bella.’

‘But I don’t want to stop seeing you,’ she said. ‘That’s a no-brainer.’

He gave her such a blinding smile that for a moment she couldn’t think of anything else.

‘Right,’ said Lottie. ‘Then here are your other options. You can lie. You can stay silent and hope it all
goes away. Or you can ’fess up. All of these depend on Richard’s co-operation.’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Bella never asked for this. I got her into it. I’ll do, say, confirm, whatever she’s happiest with.’ He spoke direct to Lottie, not looking at Bella.

Lottie nodded. ‘Thank you.’ She turned to her friend. ‘The first thing you have to remember is once you’ve told a story, there’s no going back. You can fudge and finesse or you can downright lie. But if you decide not to come clean, you have to keep on lying. Do you want to do that? From experience, I know it can be done. But often it’s more painful than telling the truth and it certainly goes on for longer. The tabloids have scented a story and they will dig and keep on digging after it.’

Richard said quietly, ‘She’s right.’

Lottie looked straight at Bella, serious-faced. ‘If you want to kill this story, my best advice is tell the truth – yes, it was you – and don’t elaborate. Don’t answer questions. No second press release. Certainly no exclusive to
Royal Watchers
or the
Daily Despatch
. Just shut up. Remember, you’ve done nothing wrong. You’re both unattached.’

Bella nodded.

‘Eventually he’ll date someone else and the Press will lose interest.’

Richard flinched but said nothing.

Lottie went on. ‘Of course, you could just keep your head down. You probably wouldn’t be found out. There are only four people who know – we three and Richard’s
security officer. You could keep schtum and leave it to his Press Office to handle.’

Richard said quietly, ‘It’s what they’re paid for. You don’t need to be involved. You wouldn’t have been if I were anybody else. If I weren’t—’

‘Public property,’ said Bella softly. She tried to take his hand but he seemed to be lost in thought and didn’t respond.

Lottie said crisply, ‘Of course, if the Press Secretary admits it was Richard and doesn’t give up the name of the lady, the nastier rags will imply that it was a one-night stand and she was probably – er – professional.’

Bella was aghast. ‘
What?
They wouldn’t …’

Lottie shrugged. ‘Whatever sells their paper.’

Bella looked at Richard.

He spread his hands, in answer to her silent question. ‘I don’t know. I suppose they might. But that’s my problem.’

Lottie said, ‘And then we come to the fourth option.’

Bella sat up very straight. ‘There’s a fourth? I thought you said there were only three?’

‘Three b then,’ said Lottie impatiently. ‘Tell the
whole
truth. Whatever that is. Be prepared for further questions. Answer them. And keep on answering them as long as the relationship lasts.’

She sat back, looking at them expectantly. Richard got up.

Bella said to his back, ‘If you say it’s my call one more time, I will
scream
.’

‘Be fair, Bella. What else can he say? He’s had the
paparazzi shadowing him all his adult life. He knows the score. He can cope. Can you?’ Lottie asked.

Bella ignored her. She stood up and went to Richard. ‘You said you loved me.’

He didn’t turn round. ‘Yes. Of course I love you. I would do anything … But if we tell the world we’re seeing each other, you’ll become public property too. You never wanted that. You said you didn’t.’

‘I know I did. But that was before.’

‘Before I said I loved you?’ He sounded tired. ‘Pulease.’

‘Before I knew you properly.’

He turned round then, looking oddly uncertain. ‘What?’

She said simply, ‘You learned to cope without selling your soul. So will I.’

Richard searched her face. ‘Bella, think about this. Are you sure?’

He looked so drawn she wanted to put her arms round him. ‘Are you?’

‘Me? Oh, yes,’ he said, quite as if it didn’t matter, as if that were a given. ‘I was sure the moment I saw you.’

There was complete silence.

‘Oh,’ Bella said on a long note of wonder.

He searched her face. What he saw there seemed to reassure him. His shoulders came down from under his ears and the tension lines round his mouth eased. He took her hands and swung them a little. His eyes were starting to smile again, she saw, and her heart turned over.

He drew in a long breath. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘Well.’

‘That’s settled then.’ Bella sounded a little breathless but brisk. ‘Press statement says we’re going out together.’

His fingers tightened. ‘Yes.’

‘Well, thank God for that!’ Lottie said. ‘Now, look, you’ll need to tell your nearest and dearest, along with anything you want or don’t want them to say.
Someone
will go to them for a comment, as sure as eggs is eggs. And you really ought to do that before you issue the press release.’

Richard couldn’t stop looking at Bella. ‘I’m afraid she’s right,’ he said. ‘The Palace machine will handle my family. But what about yours?’

Bella groaned. ‘Oh, great! My mother will burst with joy and my father will never speak to me again.’

‘I’m sorry?’ said Richard, startled.

‘He’s an anti-monarchist. I
told
you.’

‘I didn’t realise he was that bad. He’d actually break off communication because you’ve gone over to the enemy? That’s impressive.’ Richard brightened suddenly. ‘Actually, I’ll get to meet him now, won’t I? Great. Maybe I can talk him round.’

‘Don’t count on it,’ said Bella. She was making a list. ‘Mother and Kevin. Finn. Neill. Granny Georgia.’ She looked at her watch. ‘I’ll text them now and speak to them properly in the morning.’

‘Don’t forget the people at work,’ Lottie instructed her. ‘And you’ll need to update your Facebook page. I’d advise you to change the settings or you’ll get all sorts of nutters leaving stuff on there. Now let’s work out what you’re going to tell everyone.’

‘Er – one thing,’ said Richard. ‘My mother wants to meet you.’

‘Yes, of course, we’ll organise a date.’

‘I mean tomorrow.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Make that today. As soon as possible. She said lunch.’

Bella and Lottie exchanged alarmed glances.

‘My mother,’ he said dryly, ‘is a warm and wonderful human being and a miracle of organisation and tact. But she doesn’t like being blind-sided. She’s not pleased with me for not telling her about you.’

Bella gulped. ‘I shall tell her that was because I asked you not to,’ she said bravely. ‘But please – not lunch. I have to work tomorrow. Life has to stay as normal as possible or I’ll lose myself.’ There was an edge of panic in her voice.

Richard was unperturbed. ‘Fine by me.’

It was Lottie who said wisely, ‘You don’t want the first thing you do as Richard’s acknowledged girlfriend to be a head-to-head standoff with his mother. Quite apart from the fact that she’s Queen of England, the mother of every son in the world would hate you for that.’

Bella’s jaw set. ‘I’m
not
turning my life upside down.’

‘No need to. Negotiate, Bel, negotiate. Richard … suggestions?’

He thought. ‘I’ll speak to her in the morning. Tell her you feel you have to talk to your own parents first. She’s not unreasonable – when she’s not spitting mad. I’ll sort something out.’

They worked out a list of who would tell what to whom, when.

When they had finished Lottie stretched and stood
up. ‘That was a good night’s work,’ she said with satisfaction. ‘I’m going to bed now. If I were you, Richard, I’d stay the night. It’s too late for anything else. But your choice.’

With which tactful invitation, she wandered off.

He stayed.

This time they both remembered to set an alarm call. So the next morning Bella waved Richard off then rang her stepfather. It was 7.15 and Kevin was on the train, already on his way to work. He had not read her text of the night before, which was par for the course. Kevin did not like mobile phones and used them as little as possible. Bella told him the bare facts, as she, Lottie and Richard had worked out last night.

Kevin took it calmly. ‘That’s very good news, my dear. He sounds a fine young man. Time you had some fun … Your mother? She’s got a hairdresser’s appointment this morning, so she’ll be up in half an hour or so, I’d say.’

Janet had not read her text either. So when Bella eventually spoke to her, a few minutes after 8, her mother was inclined to think it was a joke.

‘It’s true, Ma. I met him at a party and we’ve seen each other quite a few times since. Last night somebody got a photo of us together and now it’s all over the internet. His office will issue a press release later today.’

But Janet still refused to believe her.

Finally Bella gave up. ‘OK, Ma. Have it your way. But if you Google “Prince Richard” plus “Rumour”, you’ll see the photo. I’ll email you the press release when it
comes out. Call me if you want to talk about anything.’

Her father texted:
Disbelief here. Where are your principles?

To which Bella replied immediately:
YOUR principles, Phineas Fogg
.

Granny Georgia texted:
I look forward to meeting him. Back on Christmas Eve
.

Bella went to work.

At 9 Richard’s office sent her a copy of the draft press release for her approval. She approved. At 9.20 Richard rang.

‘It’s gone.’ She could hear that he was in the car. ‘I’m saying to anyone who asks that it’s a private matter and I’m not giving any interviews.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘Municipal swimming baths. I’m opening them. Followed by a diving display and races between first-year swimmers of all ages. Followed by lunch with the Mayor.’