by Marci Fawn
“But won’t that be a bit… public?” I ask, cringing at my words.
I hate to sound like such an idiot, but I assumed we would go somewhere where no one could recognize him. What if we get photographed, or mobbed, and I’m not sure that I’m ready for that. I can already picture the nasty newspaper headlines about me now, and I don’t like the thought of that one bit.
‘Prince with Tramp.’
‘Prince Edward Lowers His Standards.’
‘Prince and the Pauper.’
“I’ve booked it all out,” he shrugs his shoulders as if it’s nothing, but to me it’s huge.
It’s a massive statement that suggests his feelings might run as deeply as mine do. That isn’t the sort of thing you do for just anyone – even if you are a prince!
“And I have a historian expert coming to discuss the exhibits with us. You might have heard of him, David Timlin?”
“What?” I gasp excitedly.
“Are you serious?”
I studied a lot of David’s Timlin’s work when I was at college, so to actually meet him in person would be something else.
“I can’t believe it.”
“Well I remembered you mentioning his book last night, so I thought it would be a nice treat.”
I have no answer to that, I’m stunned. Who does something like that? I guess that must be one of the advantages of being royalty – you can command such events to happen – but the fact that he was actually listening to me and paying attention. It’s almost too much!
As the car whizzes through Cornwall, we alternate between chatting some more, and drinking in the wonderful views that we pass. Coming from a small American town, I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and I wonder to myself if this is the sort of place I could live in forever.
I picture myself living in one of the beautiful Cornish seaside cottages, exploring the beach every single day, working on site of one of the castles, studying medieval history even more, and it’s an image that I will to come true. I couldn’t think of anything better!
That would be the perfect life for me.
“We’re here,” Edward finally announces, dragging my attention back to him.
“Come on, let’s go.”
He holds my hand lightly in his as he leads me down the corridors. My eyes scan over the exhibits that I can see from where we are, and I can’t wait to get to see them, but for now, I’m excited about lunch. Not only am I very hungry, but I cannot wait to spend some more one on one time with Edward.
He walks me into a café, which he’s clearly decorated to look like a fancy restaurant, and my heart beats with anxiety. This is the most romantic thing that I’ve ever had done for me, and it’s very difficult not to let the emotion overcome me.
“Wow,” I gasp, repeating myself all over again.
“This is amazing. I don’t even know what to say.”
I’m finding myself increasingly speechless, and that’s all because of Edward. He really is the perfect man.
He leads me to a seat and offers me a menu that has clearly not come from this place. He even has a special chef come in to cook for me – this is insane.
It can’t be what he does for every girl, can it? I study the words carefully in front of me, trying to keep the happy tears inside. I’ve never felt so amazing in my entire life, and it’s almost overwhelming.
We order what we want to eat quickly, and then get back to the laughing and teasing banter that we’ve always had between us.
Not only does it not really feel like Edward is royalty, it also feels like we’ve known each other for years. He feels like someone who has always been in my life, which strips away any potential awkwardness before it even arises.
Once we’ve eaten, the very famous David Timlin enters the room, and he offers to take us around the museum.
As we walk through the exhibitions, I find myself learning things that I’ve never known before and it’s fascinating.
The fact that Edward has arranged this for me makes me feel like the most special person on the entire planet. It’s a date tailored just to me and what I like, which is made even better by the fact that we even get to view some exhibits that aren’t available to the public yet.
As I get to see things that no one else has, I feel that odd excitement that can only have come from sharing my odd hobby with someone who loves it just as much as I do.
“This is amazing,” I keep whispering to Edward, feeling increasingly grateful with every second that passes.
“Thank you so much. I’m having the best time.”
But the best part about this entire date is the fact that he seems to be enjoying as much as I do. I’ve never found a kindred spirit before and I really feel like I have in Edward. He’s like the male version of me, and that excites and amuses me in equal measures.
It’s just a shame that we come from opposite ends of the world – in terms of location and class. That makes it’s unlikely that anything could ever become of us, which is disappointing because I like him so much.
I can try and see us as a holiday romance of sorts to make it easier, but it’s difficult when my feelings run so strong. Already.
Oh God, am I in too deep?
By the time we have seen everything that the museum has to offer, my heart is racing and my mind is distracted by my feelings.
I already know that I’m going to end up with my heart broken if I keep spending time with Edward, and that is terrifying.
I should put an end to this now, call off this date and return to the hotel. Then tomorrow morning, I should move on to my next location as planned and carry on with my travels. Get out before everything is ruined.
Then Edward asks the question that changes everything.
“Would you like to come with me to see Harrington Hall? It’s one of the royal residences that I’ve been staying in, and I’d love to show you around?”
“Really?” My heart pounds wildly, my intrigue too much to say no.
“Are you sure?”
I’ve never even considered seeing a modern day royal home, and I can’t stop myself from really wanting to.
Stop it, I tell myself. Get out before you get hurt.
But I completely ignore myself and I find myself nodding anyway.
“That sounds lovely.”
“I just have to warn you,” he says, his expression has now turned serious.
“That my mum might be there. She did mention some work she had in this area of the world… but I’m sure it’s just to check up on me.”
He smiles weakly at me, but my mind races. His mum… does he mean the queen?
The queen of England? She might be there? I might have to meet her?
Oh my God!
“Err, yeah okay,” I nod, trying to look far more confident than I feel.
“Sounds great.”
So we step into the car, and we whiz back through the Cornish countryside. Only this time there’s no chatting or flirting. I’m silent, scared, and wondering what the hell I’m doing. What am I getting myself into?
We eventually pull up at an old-fashioned manor house that had my heart racing all over again. It’s starting to get dark now, which somehow makes the place look even more intimidating, and I wish for a second that I could turn back and forget the whole thing.
Why did I agree to come? What the hell was I thinking?
“Come on,” Edward smiles at me, which gives me a small boost of reassurance – but not enough to feel fully better about this.
“Let’s go inside.”
As he holds my hand tightly in his, I take in some deep and calming breaths trying not to draw too much attention to myself. He only said that his mum might be there, so I might be okay after all. If I just keep that thought at the forefront of my mind, then everything will be okay…
“Do you need anything else?” The driver asks, and as I turn around to face him, I realize that it’s the same man from the previous night, Marcus, Edward’s security guard
.
I send him a smile and he sneaks one back in my direction before refocusing on Edward.
“No thanks, Marcus.” He says happily.
“Not for a while. I’ll give you a call when Faith wants to go back to her hotel.”
The tight knot in my stomach loosens a little bit, at least I won’t be expected to stay – not that I thought Edward was like that, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. My heart might adore Edward, but I know that sleeping with him would only lead me to getting my heart broken even more, and I’m really trying my best to avoid that if I can.
He takes me inside and he shows me around the endless rooms that I’m sure no one needs. I try to ask him what every room is used for, and he gives me an answer that sounds legitimate enough, but I can’t help giggling all the same.
“I have fewer rooms in my entire home, than in this one wing, in my house!” I tease, and luckily, he finds that as funny as I do.
Eventually he turns to face me and I see a glint in his eye, one that suggests he might be about to kiss me once more, and I feel my excitement levels rise.
Despite everything, even though I know it isn’t wise, I want him to kiss me again, I want to be back in his arms, and there’s no way that I can resist…
“Edward?”
A shrill female voice rings out, which strikes the fear of God back into me, stripping any desire right out of me. That sound can only belong to one person, and I have no idea what to do about that.
The queen.
I glance at Edward, the panic plastered across my face, but he isn’t sharing in my terror at all. In fact, he looks really happy.
“Mum?” He calls back in response, drawing her towards us.
“We’re in here.”
“We?”
Oh God, she doesn’t know about me – this could not be going any worse!
I step backwards, needing to create some distance between us before she sees us, then I try to rearrange myself in the most respectable way possible, which isn’t easy in my cheap, irritating dress.
As the queen enters the room, her daunting presence immediately takes over, and I feel my body turn to jelly.
How the hell am I going to cope with this? I’m not even slightly prepared.
“Mum,” Edward can’t seem to sense the tension at all, as he steps towards her and kisses her on both cheeks.
“It’s so lovely to see you, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Hmmm…” she sneers disrespectfully, and I feel a cold sense of dread overcome me.
I knew this was going to be hard, but I wasn’t expecting her to be so… cold.
“Right. And who’s this?”
She looks me up and down as if I’m a piece of dirt on the floor. I feel myself shrink in on myself as she scrutinizes me. Any happiness that I was feeling about myself has completely gone now.
“This is Faith Harper,” he says proudly as he steps in between us.
“I met her yesterday at Tintagel Castle. We’ve been out today – I took her to the Royal Cornwall Museum.”
I start by awkwardly curtseying before stepping forward to shake her hand. I have no idea how I’m supposed to behave in the presence of royalty, and that’s making me very uncomfortable. But she doesn’t take my hand at all. Instead, she turns away from me, leaving me hanging there like an idiot.
Great, this is just wonderful!
“So what is your plan Edward?” She asks, as if I’m not even there.
“Where will you be going from here?”
My mind races as he answers, tuning them both out. She hates me, and I have no idea what to do about that. How do you make someone like you? It’s obviously because she thinks that I’m below her son, and there will never be anything that I can do to change that.
I should not be in this mess; I should be back at the hotel.
Eventually the queen leaves the room, but it’s too late for me.
The atmosphere is gone, and all I want to do is get as far away from here as possible. Luckily Edward seems to pick up on that, and he reacts accordingly like the gentleman he is.
“Come on,” he smiles sadly at me.
“I’ll call Marcus, let’s get you back.”
As we drive, Edward keeps trying to bring at least some of the happiness back, but I can’t seem to muster it up.
I want to, but it’s too late, and he doesn’t address that until we’ve arrived and I’m just about to step out of the car.
“I’m sorry,” he announces morosely as his face falls into sorrow.
“I’m sorry for the way mum treated you.” I flick my eyes over to him in shock. It didn’t seem like he noticed at the time!
“I know that she can be a bit… funny with people.”
I nod, wanting to say that was putting it mildly, but I force my lips to clamp together. There’s no point in making it worse than it already is. I can’t insult his mom – that would be a terrible start.
“Will you meet me tomorrow?” He asks, looking at me with deep concern.
“I have a surprise for you… if you still want to spend any time with me?”
“Err,” I think over my plans to get out of Cornwall as soon as possible – which I know is the smart thing to do – but yet again my heart wins out and I find myself agreeing with his suggestion.
“Okay, sure.”
I curse myself for being weak – do I have no control over myself? – but when he plants one chaste kiss on my lips, I know that I have no other choice. I have to at least try and see this through.
“I’ll see you in the morning then,” he smiles, before driving away and leaving me stunned outside my hotel door.
4
Edward
I don’t get much sleep that night because not only am I very excited about what I have planned for Faith; it takes a lot of organizing too, so I’m awake far into the night hours getting everything together.
What I’m doing might be rash, but I know that it’s right for us. Other people might not be able to understand what we’re doing – or at least, what I hope we’re going to do – but that doesn’t matter to me.
For the first time in my entire life, I’m following my heart, rather than doing what I know I should be doing.
The way that mum treated Faith last night made me feel horrible, even though I tried my best to disguise it at the time, but it has actually led to something good.
When I returned to the Hall, I told her that I was extending my time off from royal duties even longer, and there was nothing she could say to persuade me otherwise.
She argued of course, but I felt brave enough to stand up to her and say what I really felt.
I even chastised her for being so rude, not that she could see it herself. She’ll pout and ignore me for a while, but I know that she’ll come back round eventually, so I’m not too worried.
I need to do this, I have to and that’s the end of it. This is the first thing that I’ve ever done that’s just for me, and I’m happy about that.
As I step into the car, and tell Marcus to drive me back to Faith’s hotel in the early hours of the morning, my heart races with excitement.
I can’t wait to see her face when I reveal my surprise. I have no idea how she’s going to react to my bold suggestion, but I can only hope that it’s in a positive way.
I climb out onto the road where I know that Faith is staying, and I scan the nearby area for somewhere that I can take her to reveal my news.
There’s a sweet strawberry themed coffee shop nearby that looks perfect – not too busy, and not too flashy either.
Faith doesn’t seem like the sort who would be too impressed by money, unless it’s being spent in the right way. She really loved the museum plan I put together yesterday, so it’s things like that I want to impress her with.
As she sways through the door, looking absolutely beautiful in a white, flowing summer dress, I feel my heart literally skip a beat – just like that first day I saw her – and my face bursts into an
automatic smile.
I’ll never get tired of seeing that gorgeous girl, and I hope that I’ll never have to let her go.
“Hi Faith,” I call out, and she races towards me before throwing her arms around me in a hug.
I’m surprised because she seemed very distant when we parted last night, but I can see now that had much more to do with my mum, than me. I can feel her emotions flowing between us, and that makes me even more confident that she’s going to love what I have for her next.
“Would you like to come for a drink in the café with me?”
She grins and nods, which is another good sign.
“It should be nice and quiet in there.”
I’ve been lucky not to get photographed during my time in Cornwall, and if I can go another day then I will be able to explore things without the entire world trying to work out who Faith is. She doesn’t seem like the type of girl who will like that one bit, and I don’t want to force that upon her, just because of who I am.
We sit down and order some drinks, and I find myself tapping my hands against the table nervously. Faith is also giving me an odd look that suggests that my fear of being rejected is plastered all across my face. I either need to start acting normal, or confess what I’m here for.
“Are you okay?” She eventually asks, staring at me intently, and I realize that normal isn’t an option here.
“Yeah, I’m just… I’m…”
Oh God, why can’t I get my words out properly? I’ve never been this way with anyone in my entire life!
“Okay,” I blow out some air. “Here is the surprise.”
Then I place the tickets down on the table, hoping that she’ll get my point without me having to say too much. She picks them up and study’s them carefully, that confusion never leaving her face once.
Oh God, she isn’t getting it. This isn’t going well at all.
“What’s this?” She asks, finally glancing up at me. “What are you showing me these for?”
Okay, just say it. Just do it.
“I know that this is crazy,” I start.
“But I think we have a special bond here, and I’m not ready to lose that yet.”