Royal - Danielle Steel Page 0,66

hall boy, and the doctor’s nurse again. Blake and Rupert were screaming over a soccer match on TV when Sir Malcolm called. Annie could hardly hear him, and shouted at the boys to turn it down, and stop screaming. They were rooting for opposing teams and driving her insane. They had just turned sixteen, and the cottage seemed too small now for four of them. They were turning into big, brawny men, and they left a mess in their wake everywhere, which Annie constantly cleaned up for them.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, “I couldn’t hear you. My brothers were behaving like savages.” She glared at them as she said it, and turned off the television. “Could you repeat that?” she said to Sir Malcolm, as her brothers left the room, grumbling.

“Your Royal Highness.” It struck her as odd when he said it. “The investigation has been concluded to everyone’s satisfaction. Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte was your mother, and you bear a remarkable resemblance to her.” He was smiling as he said it, and much to her own surprise, Annie had tears in her eyes, and sat down suddenly, feeling dizzy. She had wanted this result and didn’t even know it. It was now confirmed that she was Her Majesty’s niece and the Queen Mother’s granddaughter. “Her Majesty is very pleased. We will be releasing a statement in the next few days. You might want to prepare for some media attention. They can be quite intrusive, no matter how discreetly we frame the news. It’s liable to cause considerable excitement.” Her heart was pounding as he said it. She was a member of the royal family after all. And she had no idea what would come next.

“What are you going to say in the announcement?” She was curious about it.

“Her Majesty’s press secretary is handling it. We want to keep it as discreet as possible, so it doesn’t raise too many questions of a delicate nature. It will say that you’ve been living abroad with distant relatives who brought you up, since your parents’ tragic deaths during the war, you’ve completed your education, and you have now returned to England to take your rightful place with the royal family. Her Majesty is immensely pleased at the return of her youngest sister’s daughter. It’s hard to make much of that, but the press will always try.

“Her Majesty also wanted me to let you know that the cabinet will be deciding on your allowance next month, and she’d like you to come to Balmoral for a few days this summer, to meet the rest of the family. Her boys are close to your age, and they’ll be home from school then. And Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria always spends a week or two there on her way to the South of France, where she spends the month of August. It’s a bit chilly in Scotland, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy the palace. The Queen Mother and Her Majesty have always loved it. The Queen Mother would like to have you to tea in the coming days. And Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria would like to meet you when she returns from the trip to India she’s on now.” Annie felt dizzy when she hung up, her head was spinning, and she sat staring into space for a minute. Her father came in from the stables in time for dinner, and saw the look on her face, as though she’d seen a ghost.

“Did something happen? Did the boys break something?” Jonathan asked, looking worried. They’d come back into the room and were screaming at the soccer match and threatening to kill each other again, as she shook her head and stared at her father.

“I’ve been authenticated,” she whispered. “It’s all true, Charlotte is my mother. The cabinet is voting on my allowance next month, and the queen wants me to come to Balmoral this summer to meet the others. Oh my God, Papa, I’m for real!” He put his arms around her and hugged her with tears in his eyes.

“You’ve always been real to me,” he said gruffly.

Then her face clouded for a minute. “Do you think Mama would be upset about it? Or pleased? It seems so disloyal after everything she did for me.” Suddenly Annie had two mothers, but both were dead.

“She must have wanted this to happen or she wouldn’t have told me,” he reassured her. “This was meant to be. She had you to herself for twenty years.