Royal - Danielle Steel Page 0,91

surprised to see Anthony standing there with a bottle of champagne in his hand and two glasses.

“A bit of bubbly before bedtime?” he offered. She wasn’t tired and she let him come in, and he sat down across from her in front of the fire and stretched his legs out as he filled two glasses with champagne, and handed one to her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said, looking relaxed. “It’s all a bit serious for me, and a little formal. But staying home alone on Christmas would be depressing. So I let my father talk me into it. And to be honest, I hoped you’d be here. I wasn’t sure if you’d be in Kent instead.”

“I thought I should be here this year.”

“Be careful. The royal life is a web you’ll never escape.”

“You make it sound ominous,” she said as she sipped the champagne.

“Not ominous, insidious. After a while, nothing compares to it and you get trapped. Like Victoria. I’m sure there are a dozen places she’d rather be. But she’s still here.”

“It’s home to her,” Annie said.

“She’ll wind up an old maid if she’s not careful. Men are afraid of this, and she won’t be young and beautiful forever. She’s already forty-two, and I don’t think any of the men she’s been in love with wanted to take this on.”

“Why not?” Annie looked surprised, as he finished his glass and poured himself another. She wondered if he was a little tipsy, but he didn’t look it.

“Because the queen makes the rules, my dear, for the entire family. And the cabinet. And the prime minister. And the archbishop. And all the rules and traditions that have existed for hundreds of years. You can’t escape that. It’s a prison of sorts, a golden one, but nonetheless the walls are thick and the doors are barred, and they let very few people in. Queen Alexandra is a stickler. It will happen to you too if you’re not careful. You can’t just marry whoever you choose now. They have to approve.”

“Are they still that strict?” Annie looked surprised. These were modern times, and the queen was young.

“They are,” he answered. “You’re far enough down the line, so they may not be as tough on you. But poor George and Albert will have to marry the girls their mother approves of. No go-go dancers for them,” he said, and she laughed.

“Well, they don’t need to worry about me. I don’t want to get married. I just want to be a jockey one day, if they ever relax the rules and let women into the inner sanctum of racing.”

“You can’t wait for that forever.”

“Yes, I can,” she said confidently. “That’s my only goal for the moment.”

“Then God help the racing committee. I get the feeling that you always get what you want.”

“Not always, but I’m willing to wait and be patient.”

“You’ll probably marry and have ten children before that,” he said lightly.

“I hope not. I’m not sure I want any,” Annie responded seriously. “It certainly didn’t work out well for my mother,” she said quietly, and he looked at her gently.

“Are you afraid of that happening to you?” he asked, and she nodded. It was her worst fear, dying in childbirth. He had his own demons.

“That was a long time ago, during the war. She was young, and you probably weren’t born in a hospital,” he said sensibly to reassure her.

“No, I wasn’t, but it still happens even now.”

“Think of Queen Victoria. She was as small as you are, and she had nine children, all at home, and she was fine. I suppose we all have our terrors. I’m afraid of the woman I love leaving me, the way my mother walked out on my father. It nearly broke him. I don’t think he ever recovered. I don’t think he’s loved a woman since.” Although he had dated many, and had a reputation as a ladies’ man.

“It’s odd how the things in our childhood mark us forever,” Annie said. “Once I knew about my mother, I decided I didn’t want children. It seems safer not to try.” And yet she never played it safe on horseback, and had no fears there. But she guarded her heart. And so did Anthony and his father.

“It’s not too late for you to change your mind about having babies. You’re young. It will be fine, if you fall in love with the right man. Finding a woman who won’t fall in love with someone else and