Chapter 13 #2
Lauren paused for a few seconds before going back into the Picture Gallery.
If she had worried about looking flushed when she had left the room a few minutes ago, she knew she looked even worse upon reentry.
Part of her wanted to go to the ladies’ room and cry in a stall, a rite of passage for all workplaces, but she didn’t have that luxury right now.
Back in the room, she stayed far away from the duke (just thinking the name “Jasper” made her feel guilty now), her head down
as she politely listened to the conversation between the Queen and the Congolese delegation. Eugene raised an eyebrow at her
once she slipped back into place, and she nodded before pretending to read a message on her phone.
She could feel another pair of eyes on her, though, but she didn’t dare look up to meet them.
As soon as she could leave the room, she did, rushing back to her office so she could shut the door and be alone for a minute,
but Eugene managed to intercept her before she could get there.
“This is absolutely ridiculous, Eugene!” a voice shouted.
“Lauren, can you come in here, please?” Eugene said, poking his head out of his door.
Lauren froze for a second before stepping into his office, where a furious-looking Harold Cockburn was seated. “Was this your
idea?” he demanded as soon as Lauren entered the room.
“Cockburn, calm down,” Eugene said.
Lauren glanced between the two men. “What exactly is happening right now?”
“Eugene has decided to go ahead with your suggestion to pair the Prince of Strathearn with the Duke of Exeter for the visit to Skipton. With two days’ notice.”
Lauren had shoved that visit to the back of her mind after putting the idea forward a few weeks earlier, too occupied with the upcoming US state visit and also the mess she was making of her personal life.
She had finalized all the details, though: Skipton was a few hours’ train ride away, just north of Yorkshire, and the royal visit was to help promote the town’s upcoming food and drink festival.
Lauren hadn’t been looking forward to traveling with the Prince of Strathearn or Harold, but she hadn’t been too worried about it.
“You did?” she said to Eugene.
“It’s really not open to discussion,” he said to Cockburn. “This decision comes from Her Majesty herself.”
Lauren smiled internally, knowing the Queen was aware of one of her ideas and had even given it the royal thumbs-up. Or something
more graceful than that, probably.
“So what would you like me to tell the prince, then?” Harold fumed. “That the heir to the throne is not good enough to carry
out an engagement on his own?”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Eugene muttered. “It’s one visit to one town, one time. You’re making this a much bigger deal than it
is. Especially considering this trip was originally for the Duke of Cumberland, until his hip problems got worse.”
Lauren stayed silent, trying to calm her own racing brain. Oscar was among the accredited reporters for that trip, and now
with the duke attending as well, the breezy day trip out to Yorkshire felt monumental, and it had nothing to do with the Skipton
food and drink festival.
“Plus it’s only a good thing for the prince to be seen generously showing the royal ropes to his cousin, who is still new
to all of this,” Eugene added.
“Eugene is right,” Lauren said. Sending the duke on this trip would be smart, would bring him back to his English roots and
reward all the love and attention that had been thrown his way in the last several months.
Even if the idea of shepherding him on this trip with Oscar, taking notes at every moment, filled her with anxiety.
“Well, that’s it, then,” Harold said, standing up and storming toward the door. “But we are not making a habit of this. These
engagements are planned months in advance for a reason, you can’t just mess around in the final hour.” He stomped off before
either of them could reply.
“You could have told me that it was actually happening before you told Harold,” Lauren pointed out.
“Well, you’re caught up now,” Eugene said, looking annoyed and flustered by the outburst. “Just make sure it goes well, otherwise
I’ll have to hear about it from that man until the end of time.”
“I always make sure it goes well,” she said, but then she paused. “Eugene?”
“Hmm?”
“Does Harold know about the duke’s money issues?”
“No,” Eugene said shortly. “Absolutely not.”
Lauren remembered the duke’s words from months ago all too well: They bring you in, build you up, then offer you as a sacrifice when someone with a higher rank makes a mistake.
“I’m worried that the Strathearns’ office is going to leak the bankruptcy story,” Lauren admitted. “They have had a reputation
in the past of leaking things to distract from their own bad press.”
“And that’s why they don’t know about it and why it’s going to stay that way. Any other questions?”
Lauren shook her head then left, heading for her office, where she sat at her desk for a long time, dizzy from her fight with Joy and the Skipton updates.
She had always known deep down that Jasper’s and Oscar’s paths would align again at some point after Singapore, but this trip felt a little too close and personal.
Would Oscar be able to tell that she had kissed Jasper?
And would Jasper know what was going on between she and Oscar?
The guilt still stirred in Lauren’s stomach.
Lauren stared at the French doors. Jesus Christ, what had she gotten herself into?