Chapter 7 #2
“Other than my position, and your potential position if you married me, what don’t you like?”
She frowned. “I’m not sure what you’re really asking me.”
“I’m asking what you don’t like about me, other than my position.”
“I don’t know you.”
His eyes were intense but his voice was soft. “Yes, you do, Genevieve. You know me.”
She wanted to shift her seat a bit, but she couldn’t move with his head in her lap, so she put up with the discomforting truth in his words.
“I know some things,” she conceded. “But that doesn’t mean I know you.
We’d probably end up hating each after a week and need a divorce, and how would that look for the royal family? ”
“If I married you, I’d never divorce you.”
“Wow. Already making threats too. I told you we wouldn’t suit each other.”
“It wasn’t a threat.” He rose and shifted to sit next to her, his body flush against hers.
One of his arms slid along her back, tucking her closer to him, while the other loosened her arms and took her hand.
“I think you’re so used to threats living in that house that you can’t recognize a promise when you see one. ”
“It’s because I live in that house that I do know what a threat is. Someone denying me my freedom, in whatever form, is a threat to me.”
“So freedom is your ultimate goal?”
“Haven’t I made that clear by now? I want freedom and I want control of my own life for once.”
Agnes’s voice rang out from the outer office. “Oh, Mother! How lovely of you to stop by.”
Gabriel kissed Gen’s hand, then stood and helped her up.
“We’re out of time. I know you think you can’t get that freedom and control here, but you’re wrong, and I’ll prove it to you.
We’re going on a date. I’ll ask Agnes to arrange a ruse of sorts, just follow our lead.
For now, it’s time for you to meet my mother. ”
“I…no. I can’t meet her.”
“You technically already have, at the charity ball. It’s not so different.”
She immediately started patting her hair and brushing a hand over her dress, trying to clear any wrinkles.
“You look beautiful, as always.”
She didn’t quite believe him, though she wanted to. But she had no time to think on that because his mother—the Queen! —entered in the next moment.
Queen Victoria seemed to float into the room.
She was wearing a stylish outfit of high-end pants and a silk shirt, a simple pearl necklace and matching earrings.
Her black hair was shiny and in an elegant updo, and she seemed to be glowing.
Gen could see the resemblance between her and her kids, at least the two in the room with her.
“Oh, you have a guest. I didn’t realize.”
“Yes, Mother. I asked my newest friend, Miss Genevieve Ruffin, over for tea. Gabriel happened to stop by in the midst of our chat too. Miss Ruffin, may I present my mother, Queen Victoria.”
Gen curtsied deeply and rose. “It’s an honour to meet you, Your Majesty.”
The queen’s eyes darted between Gen and Gabriel and a wide smile split her face.
Oh, God. Gen hoped she wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
“How lovely to meet you. Please sit. Let’s all sit and enjoy a cup together.”
“Louise is bringing in a fresh pot. Ours has probably gone cold by now.”
As they all settled on the sofa and chairs, Gen between Agnes and the queen, Agnes spoke first. “Miss Ruffin is the eldest daughter of the late Peter Ruffin, the former Minister of Education.”
“Oh of course. I knew him, though not as well as His Majesty did. I’ll ask him to speak to you at the next function, whatever that may be.”
Gen smiled demurely, shifting into her ‘society’ mode. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I always love hearing stories about my father.”
The queen patted her hand. “Naturally.”
Gabriel exchanged a glance with Agnes, then spoke. “Before you arrived, Mother, we were talking of the ruins of the Chateau de Crussol. Miss Ruffin has never been there, so we thought to make up a small party and visit.”
“A delightful idea. Why not invite your brothers and a few select others and make it a picnic lunch? I’m sure Miss Ruffin would appreciate spending time with all of you.”
Gabriel smiled blandly and responded with, “Of course, Mother.”
Gen wasn’t sure how she knew, but she sensed Gabriel hated the idea of more people in the party with them. She wasn’t too keen on the idea herself, to be honest. Her, with all the royal siblings, plus some ‘select’ others?
Not to mention, when her mother found out, she’d be ecstatic, and Henrietta would be miserable and she’d take that misery out on Gen.
“Your cup, Miss Ruffin.”
Gen startled a bit as Louise held out a cup to her, and she took it with a quick thanks. The others had continued talking about the site they’d visit, and thankfully hadn’t noticed her lost in her thoughts.
They chatted for another fifteen minutes or so, Gen not contributing much but no one seemed to mind.
“I’ve got another meeting, unfortunately,” the Queen said as she rose, and everyone rose with her. “It was lovely to see you again, Miss Ruffin. I hope we’ll meet again soon.”
Gen curtsied. “I hope so too, Your Majesty.”
After Agnes returned from walking her mother out, she smiled at Gen. “The car’s waiting to take you back home.”
“I’ll walk her out.” Gabriel held out his arm and Gen had no choice but to take it.
“It was lovely to see you again, Miss Ruffin. I look forward to our picnic.”
Gen curtsied, still holding onto Gabriel. “I as well, Your Highness.”
Once they were in the corridor outside the office, Gen expected Gabriel to leave and let the other staff escort her out, but instead he kept walking. By the look on Lady Louise’s face, Gen wasn’t the only one surprised by his behaviour.
He didn’t explain himself—then again, maybe a prince didn’t need to?—and simply waved Louise away.
They continued walking slowly down the long hallways towards the exit. When they were far enough away from his security detail, she spoke in a low voice. “Why did you lie to the queen about a picnic?”
“To spend more time with you, of course. And I wasn’t lying to the queen in that moment, I was exaggerating to my mother, which is quite different. She likes you, you know.”
She sighed. “I doubt she’ll like me much when she realizes how ill-suited we are to each other, and that I am not ‘queen’ material.”
Gabriel scoffed. “I really dislike it when you put yourself down. I don’t think you realize how unkind you are to yourself.”
“I’m honest with myself, that’s all.”
“Hardly. Don’t confuse the lies you tell yourself—that were probably fed to you by your mother—with honesty, my dear. Trust me to always tell you the truth.”
“How can I when you’d lie to your own mother?”
He grinned. “But there we are the same. Do you not also lie to your mother?”
Instead of admitting that, she simply said, “See? You admitted it. I knew you were lying to your mother. Calling it something else doesn’t change anything.”
He shrugged. “I merely did what I needed to do. It occurred to me that we’ve not had a proper date and I wanted to arrange it without drawing too much attention to it.”
“And instead you’ve got a full picnic with all your siblings and more. I’m not into group dates myself, just so you know.”
“If I thought I could arrange a private date, I would do so. There are too many eyes on me at present.”
“Won’t walking me out of the palace cause a stir anyway? You don’t want to give people the wrong idea. When you inevitably realize we aren’t right for each other and dump me, I’m the one who will have to deal with the fallout. It could hurt my chances of getting married.”
“Not if I don’t ‘dump’ you, as you put it.”
“Are you proposing again? Because my answer is still no.”
He merely grinned and brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. The bristles of his mustache tickled her skin and she again remembered how his mustache felt on her thighs.
Why did she like the feel of his facial hair so much? Maybe she was just yearning for physical affection. That must be it. It had nothing to do with him, she merely realized she liked men with mustaches.
She glanced around as he wound her hand through his arm again and they started walking again.
The security agents following them weren’t paying obvious attention to them, and there wasn’t another soul in sight.
She should be happy no one caught him fawning over her, yet why did she feel a pang in her chest?
Surely, she didn’t want to be caught with him, did she?
“I wasn’t proposing to you, for the record, just as I wasn’t proposing last time. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t do so in the future. Now, on to the picnic. What kinds of foods do you like?”
He spent the rest of their walk grilling her on her likes and dislikes. Whenever she asked him the same question in return, he’d answer but also mention if one of his siblings had different preferences.
He kissed her hand again as they arrived at the car. “I’ll call on you in two days, at ten in the morning. It’s a bit of a drive, but it’s one of my favorite places to go. You’ll like it, I’m sure.”
“Don’t bet on it, Your Highness.” She curtsied and got in the car. When they were through the last gates of the palace, she rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. How would she explain all this to her mother in a way that didn’t get her hopes up?
GAbrIEL
When Gabriel returned to his office, he was unsurprised to find both his mother and sister waiting for him. They were on his sofa, with determined looks on their faces. He donned his poker face and sat down near them.
“See, Mother? He’s practically giddy when it comes to her.”
He wasn’t even smiling at the moment, so he wasn’t sure how he was projecting ‘giddy’. “Really, Agnes? I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
She poked him in the knee. “You. Were. Laughing. A lot. I heard it. I’ve hardly ever heard you laugh like that.”
He sighed. He couldn’t deny that. He’d gotten so used to keeping his ‘royal face’ on in public, that he’d started to do it in private with his family too. He did laugh, but only behind closed doors. With Genevieve, it seemed easier somehow.
“Unless…you weren’t laughing at her, were you?”
Annoyance flitted across his face. “Of course not. I would never do that.”
“I’d like to become better acquainted with her, but I did form a good impression of her today,” their mother said, then grimaced. “Her mother though…”
Agnes nodded. “She is quite the handful.”
He felt the need to defend Genevieve, if not her mother. “Miss Ruffin seems to handle her well enough, from what we saw at the Kaur’s the other night.”
“That’s very true,” Agnes agreed. “You should have seen her, Mother. I doubt even you could have done better.”
“High praise indeed.” As a clock chimed nearby, their mother checked her pearl and platinum watch, a gift from their father for her birthday years ago. “Unfortunately, I must run to yet another meeting, but I want to see her again soon. Bring her over for a family dinner.”
As their mother rose, so did he and Agnes. He gave his mother a brief nod. “If you want her to run away screaming, a family dinner would accomplish that.”
“Oh, we’re not that bad.”
At her children’s weary expressions, their mother laughed. “All right, all right. Agnes, you call her over for tea again, and I’ll pop by.”
She waved as she rushed off, leaving only Agnes in his office. “I like her too, you know.”
“You did mention that.”
“I meant it, but more I like who you are around her. I think you like her too.”
“There’s a big difference, sister dear, between liking a woman and believing she could be queen.” Though he did think Genevieve was up to the task.
Agnes shook her head, a teasing smile on her face.
“You’re not fooling anyone. You wouldn’t bother with her at all if you thought she wasn’t good enough to lead the country with you.
That’s why you’re such a serial dater. But you’ve gone out of your way to spend time with her—on multiple occasions—which means she’s different to you. She’s not like all the rest.”
Maybe he could be honest with Agnes, and even with himself. “No, she’s not. She’s different.”
Agnes stepped forward and gave him a hug, which he easily returned. “I’m happy for you, eldest brother. I’m happier for myself that I might get a sister I like.”
“It’s still a bit early for that.”
“I know.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “But if she survives an outing with all of us, surely you’ll have your answer?”
He groaned. “Don’t remind me. I dread to think what our brothers will do when they meet her. She may decide I’m not worth the effort.”
“You are though. You know that, right?”
He smiled. “I do, but thank you for the reminder.”
“Don’t worry about a thing. I’m going to plan everything, so leave it to me.” She gave him another quick hug, then left, leaving him alone in the office.
He took a seat behind his desk, barely glanced at the piles of papers there, and instead thought about Genevieve and their upcoming picnic.