Chapter 4 #2
“I hate to ruin this nostalgic reverie,” James said, “but if we don’t have any ideas”—he looked pointedly in Lauren’s direction—“by
the time Eugene comes back into this room, I fear for all of our lives.”
“Wonderful news!” Eugene sang out as he practically bounced into the room.
“This wasn’t something I was allowed to discuss before, but Her Majesty has requested that we accelerate plans to bring the Duke of Exeter into the working fold.
Some of you, and certainly the press, are unaware of this, but he’s already returned from New Zealand and is staying here at the Palace. ”
“Literally everyone knows that,” Violet said. “He’s been riding his bike around the gardens for weeks.”
“He held a door for me just the other day,” Harriet added.
“Before I met him, he came into my office and I didn’t know who he was because of the beard,” Lauren said, instantly regretting
her overshare.
Eugene closed his eyes briefly. “Of course you didn’t,” he said with a sigh.
“I haven’t seen a single bit of him!” Joy said. “But I’d like to.”
“Has he ever done a royal engagement?” Lauren asked.
“He has not,” Eugene said. “But he’s still very much a member of the royal family—and at thirty-four, he potentially has the
ability to appeal to both younger and older members of the public. That being said, we have to brace ourselves for the fact
that he could bring in as much negative publicity as positive, at least in the beginning. He has a few . . . financial issues,
and the press might try to suggest that he’s only here to fix that with the help of the public purse.”
“I mean,” Lauren said, “we all have that one family member, right?”
“We do not,” James said. “But Eugene does have a point.”
“Regardless, this is not even up for discussion,” Eugene scoffed. “This is the result of months of conversations. Her Majesty
and the Lord Chamberlain have agreed to support the duke’s return from New Zealand, where he has just been through an extremely
amicable divorce—”
Joy huffed out a laugh. “That’d be the first royal one.”
“—and is currently looking to take on public and official royal duties as a working member of the royal family.”
“So, I have an idea,” Lauren said as she opened an email.
She had actually had the idea yesterday in her apartment while researching the duke, thanks to James’s tip, but Eugene didn’t need to know that.
“Remember the announcement we got from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children? And how we weren’t able to make any schedules work for an engagement because it was last minute?
” She paused as everyone else pulled up the email.
“They’re unveiling these incredible new murals and artwork throughout an entire floor of the hospital, to create a less stressful and more safe-feeling space for the young children there, and I think we should send the duke for the unveiling.
A chance for the public to see his potential. ”
“Ooh, I like this,” Joy said.
“I do, too,” James added, and Lauren appreciated the vote of confidence.
“Think of it as a soft launch, not an official engagement,” Lauren said. “We could have one of the reporters there, maybe
see him speaking to a few children, talk to some of the local artists involved. Do it embargoed, so the whole thing can play
out in private before the world knows he’s been out. Violet can take video. Just something where he’s forward-facing but it
doesn’t feel like he’s in front of a firing squad. He’s new; we don’t want to scare him off or give the papers a chance to
cook up their own nonsense.”
Eugene looked at the email again. “This unveiling is happening next week.”
“From what I understand, the duke has no upcoming plans. This is why he’s here: to represent the royal family.
This is why you brought him here, Eugene.
And it’s a children’s hospital. This is, like, the best possible way to introduce him.
He smiles at a few kids and everyone will fall in love with him and
these poll numbers will soon be a thing of the past.”
“Well, the good news is that social media has always loved him,” Violet said, holding up her phone. “Those old videos of him riding a horse still make the rounds online.”
They all peered in to see a slo-mo fan edit of the duke riding on horseback across a field. “Oh, that jawline can’t be real,”
Joy said. “You sure that’s not AI?”
“That is very much the real deal,” Violet said.
The video slowed down as the duke looked up, presumably spotting the paparazzi lens, then shook some hair out of his eyes
just as the video’s music slowed down. “Classic thirst trap,” Violet said.
Lauren, Joy, and Harriet just kept watching. “Could you, um, restart it?” Harriet asked. “I missed the beginning.”
“Excuse me,” Eugene said. “We are here to solve a problem, not watch poorly edited videos.”
“If that’s poorly edited, God spare us the well-edited ones,” Joy said.
Lauren was still watching, though. In jeans and a white tee he looked more like a classic movie star than blue-blooded royal,
but there was definitely something about him that stood out. “This man,” she said, “might just be the best thing to happen
to the British monarchy in years.” She sat up, a huge smile on her face. “I can absolutely work with this, Eugene, don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t,” he replied. “And wonderful, because that is in fact your job.”
“Lucky Lauren,” Harriet murmured.
“This all feels a bit ridiculous,” the duke said the next afternoon, holding his arms out to his sides as a seamstress expertly nipped and tucked the wool material around him. “I have other suits that fit just fine. Why do we have to create a brand-new one?”
“You’d have to ask Eugene, but I’d imagine it’s because the event at the children’s hospital is your debut,” Lauren explained.
“Your chance to make a first impression, and the press will be paying attention to every single detail.”
The duke’s head snapped up. “I was told that the press pack wouldn’t be there.”
“They won’t be.” Lauren was quick to fix her error. “It’s just one reporter filing back information to the other royal correspondents.
There won’t be any gotcha moments, I promise. Just you raising awareness for the good work that Ormond Street does.”
That seemed to appease him for the moment. “Fine,” he said, wincing a little as the seamstress made the material even tighter.
“I suppose my main concern,” the duke continued, “is that your little team of Three Musketeers just want to make me look as
wealthy as my ex-wife and her new boyfriend, who conveniently is also a tech billionaire. Funny that, hmm?”
“What a coincidence,” Lauren said, looking down at her phone. “They must have met at the monthly tech billionaire ice cream
social.” She regretted the words as soon as she said them, worried she’d been too flippant, but her nerves settled when the
duke snorted a quiet laugh. Lauren watched him from the side as he turned again. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting,
seeing as how this was her first time working with an actual duke, but he had a sense of humor and a quick wit and wasn’t
afraid to say what he thought. It was refreshing.
“Wait a minute.” Lauren looked up. “Who are the Three Musketeers?”
“You, Eugene, and James, of course.”
“Oh, no no no, no,” Lauren said. “No, we are not a team in any sense of the word, and certainly not some swashbuckling trio. We work together
because we’re contractually required to do so, and that’s it.”
The duke turned to the left and looked at himself in the mirror, frowning slightly. “And I suppose your presence today has
nothing to do with the fact that reporters are no doubt sniffing around, asking about my life in New Zealand and my business
affairs?”
Lauren could tell from the tone of his voice that it wasn’t a question, and she thought back to the very first comment at
last week’s press conference, Adam from the Dispatch asking about the very thing that the duke was mentioning now.
“You think I don’t know that everyone at the Palace is talking about me behind my back?” the duke continued. “Bringing me
here just to placate my aunt, who also happens to be the Queen?” He turned again, this time to look straight at himself in
the mirror. “It’s a little humiliating.”
There was something in his tone that got under Lauren’s skin. She knew all too well what it was to feel humiliated. She knew
what it was like to move across an ocean and feel like she was starting from square one every single day, proving herself
over and over again to people who didn’t even want to like her in the first place.
“I think,” she said gently, “that everyone deserves a fresh start. And that sometimes things don’t work out the way we would
like them to, but that doesn’t mean they won’t in the future.”
“That must be that famous American optimism at work,” the duke said.
“Well, you can take the girl out of America,” Lauren said, smiling at him in the mirror, a gesture that wasn’t returned.
“Now, I’ve printed out and emailed you the info packet for the engagement on Thursday with some facts about the hospital, their new murals, some important names.
Eugene will also go over it all with you beforehand.
“And, of course, I’ll be with you throughout the engagement, so if you have any questions—”
“I’m sure I won’t,” he said, looking at himself in the mirror again. “I know how this works. They bring you in, build you
up, then offer you as a sacrifice when someone with a higher rank makes a mistake. It’s the playbook that works, and they
use it every single time.”
“It’s a visit to a children’s hospital, Your Highness,” Lauren said.
“Just wait,” he replied. “Whilst I may have been gone for a while, nothing has changed around here. You’re new, but you’ll
learn.” The jawline that Joy had mentioned was still as prominent as ever, and Lauren didn’t like the way her stomach flipped
when she saw him gazing at himself.
“I do have one question, actually,” he said.
“Of course.”