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‘I don’t sleep with my colleagues, though,’ Beatrice added. ‘Or have their children.’
‘You’re a commoner, Ms Taylor. I am not.’
She could have cheerfully pushed him into that lake. She doubted she’d be offered the job now, let alone take it.
‘There was an incident a few weeks ago...’ Beatrice chose the latest example. ‘And an apology issued by the palace.’
‘How would you have dealt with it?’ asked the Prince.
‘From everything I’ve read, it seems that a good time was had by all.’ She sounded tough. And liberated, even. Which she was. Just not on a private level. It was much easier to discuss other people’s wild ways when they were so alien to her own. ‘I didn’t see your need to comment.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘Well, the palace did,’ Beatrice pointed out. ‘There have been denials and apologies as far back as I can see. On your behalf, of course.’ She glanced over at him, and then upwards; he really was very tall. ‘It’s not how I’d have played it.’
‘It’s not a game, Ms Taylor. And, yet again, you are to address me assir.’
‘Of course.’ She gave a tight smile. ‘I’m just trying to get a clearer picture, sir.’
‘Well, currently I seem to be being portrayed as some sort of prodigal son returning—though without the celebration.’
‘By whom?’
He stared ahead.
‘The palace? The King?’ she probed.
He didn’t respond directly. ‘I make no apologies—however, they continually do. On my behalf. The press also drags stuff up, hoping if they push...’ He gave a tight shrug. ‘It is not the best way to go into a marriage.’
Normally her clients were pleading with her to fix their problems, but not him.
‘Well, if you’re to spare the embarrassed blushes of your future bride it would help if things were toned down. Your lovers seem to adore you,’ Beatrice said. ‘There’s no specific scandal, as such. Just... You spread your affections generously, sir.’
‘There hasn’t been a lot of affection,’ he admitted. ‘Not this past year. But my—’ He halted; it was clear Prince Julius did not discuss his private life with anyone. Even the woman who might be hired to shine it up. ‘I’ve agreed to lie low for a couple of months prior to signing the Document of Intent.’
‘Well, that’s a start. But the palace, in my opinion, has to stop apologising and issuing statements. If I got the job, everything would have to go through me...’
It wasn’t out of forgetfulness that she failed to addsir—more that a family of black swans were passing. They stood out against all the other birds in and around the lake which were white. The proud parents had six grey signets behind them, with one more peeking out beneath the mother’s wings. They were so cute that if she hadn’t been at an interview Beatrice might have rummaged in her bag for a cereal bar to feed them.
The Prince looked at the source of her distraction. ‘The two black swans were introduced when Prince Claude passed away.’
‘That cygnet is too big to still be on its mother’s back...’ Beatrice couldn’t help but smile as the cygnet turned its head as they sailed past. ‘Cute, though.’
‘You like birds?’ asked Prince Julius, and resumed walking.
‘I do,’ Beatrice admitted.
‘Actually, I have a question.’
‘Of course.’
‘Does it bother you?’ he asked. ‘Saying something one day, then being proved a liar the next.’
Beatrice paused, unsure if he was probing her about her latest client, who had rather scandalously been caught cheatingagain, but his question had been casual and she could only hear the note of curiosity to his tone. Still, for the sake of confidentiality she kept her answer a mixture of vague and truthful. ‘It doesn’t bother me.’
‘No?’
‘They’re not my lies, sir.’
