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His father turned the corners of his mouth down. ‘I’m inclined to agree with you. It is, however, Dr Maitland’s responsibility to make sure that you rest.’
‘And she’s doing that.’
‘I disagree, Hugo.’
The silence between them wasn’t broken by his mother’s voice. Usually her intervention avoided conflict between father and son, neatly suggesting a solution that everyone could live with. But this time there was just a silence.
‘My behaviour isn’t her fault. Nell’s a good doctor, and...she’s exactly what I need at the moment. In the future, I’ll follow her instructions.’ This was a climb-down of gargantuan proportions. But Hugo had seen humiliation and rejection in Nell’s face this morning, and they haunted him.
‘So things are going to change, are they?’
‘They will. Don’t punish her in order to get to me.’
His father leaned back in his chair. ‘You’ve seen the papers this morning?’
‘It’ll blow over. How many other young women have been photographed in my company in the last year?’
‘Goodness only knows. I don’t know where you get the time,’ his mother interjected suddenly, and both men turned on her, frowning. ‘It’s just an observation, darling. It would make things a great deal easier if you decided that your health wasn’t such a secret.’
‘I want it to remain private.’
That was one of the few things that Hugo and his father had agreed on lately, even if it was for different reasons. His father had always drawn a line between his family’s personal lives and their public duties, and that had allowed Hugo to grow up outside the glare of publicity. For Hugo, it was more a matter of not wanting to be seen as irrevocably flawed.
King Ferdinand nodded. ‘You know I have no argument with you there, Hugo. But you have a duty...’
Hugo nodded impatiently. ‘I know what my duty is. To be strong enough to serve the people.’
His father nodded. ‘I assume from your presence that Dr Maitland wants to stay.’
‘I have no idea. But she gets that choice.’ Hugo felt his heart quicken and he ignored it. He would have to stop gauging everything by the beat of his own heart.
‘There’s only one person who can make sure that Dr Maitland keeps her job. That’s you, Hugo.’
Hugo got to his feet, making an effort to swallow his anger as he turned to his mother. He bade her goodbye, omitting the same gesture towards his father, before turning and walking out of the room.
* * *
Hugo had been oddly compliant all day. It was as if he’d suddenly come to his senses, or at least decided that it was more politic to appear to have done so. He’d spent the morning reading through the reports from the construction company, and the meeting was a short one. Nell had been able to relax a little and take an interest in the plans for the clinic. She could see why the project excited Hugo, and why he was willing to give up almost anything to see it come to fruition.
‘What did Celeste say?’ Nell had gone to speak to Celeste alone, while he stayed in his apartment.
‘She said that last night, when the carer was with them, she got the first good night’s sleep she’s had in months.’
Hugo nodded. ‘That’s something. It’s working, then?’
‘It’s early days. But, yes, I think it’ll work very well.’
‘Good. I’ll speak to my father...’
‘Not yet, Hugo. I... I’ve already taken the blame for the other night, and I’m still in one piece. Let’s wait a week and make sure that the arrangement’s working for Celeste first. Then you can speak to him.’
‘He should know now. That you weren’t to blame for that either.’
Either? ‘You’ve already spoken to him, haven’t you?’
‘Yes. I told him that yesterday was entirely my fault and that it wouldn’t happen again.’
The sudden feeling of warmth in Nell’s chest caught her by surprise. Nell didn’t dare wonder if she was really that important to Hugo, that he’d comply with his father’s wishes for her sake.
‘You didn’t need to do that... But thank you.’
‘My pleasure. There are always plenty of other options when it comes to defying my father. You’d be surprised at the scope his position affords.’
He was making light of it, but the look in his eyes said something different. That she could trust him and he’d be there for her.
The sound of the bell, at the front door of the apartment broke the silence. It couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time, and Nell willed him to ignore it, but he didn’t, rising from his seat. Maybe he was glad of the interruption.
She heard voices in the hallway, and jumped to her feet when Queen Margaux entered the room. She was more casually dressed than in the pictures Nell had seen on the Internet, wearing a pair of tan trousers and a matching shirt, but she was still immaculate.
‘I’m glad to see that you’re here, resting, Hugo.’ Queen Margaux bestowed a smile on Nell that seemed to indicate she thought Nell had something to do with that. ‘Penelope. I’m very glad to meet you.’
‘She prefers Nell, Mother. Nell, meet my mother.’
Nell wondered whether she should curtsey, and remembered she didn’t know how. Queen Margaux held her hand out and gave Nell’s a surprisingly firm shake.
‘I’m very glad to meet you, Your Majesty.’ Nell hoped that was something close to the right form of address.
‘Margaux, please.’ The Queen dropped a slim file that she was carrying onto the table and sat down.
‘Would you like some tea...?’ Hugo’s mother was obviously here to speak to him, and it was a good means of escape. It might be rude not to address the Queen by name, as she’d instructed, but Nell couldn’t quite bring herself to call her Margaux.
‘Thank you, but no. I’ve come to speak with both you and Hugo.’
‘What about? If you’re here to try and talk some sense into me, Nell already has that covered.’
Margaux flashed another smile at Nell. ‘Then I won’t go to the trouble. Anyway, this is far more pressing. I think you should both read this.’
She slipped two sheets of paper from the folder, holding them out. Hugo took them both and started to read.
‘What is it?’ Nell reached across, and he threw the papers down on the coffee table.
‘It’s rubbish. Outrageous... You don’t need to see it.’
‘If it’s rubbish then it can’t do any harm to look.’ She picked up one of the sheets.
‘You have to understand, Nell, that the papers will pay for stories, and people will make things up. It gives them a misplaced sense of importance.’
‘All right. Let me read it, will you?’ How bad could it be? Nell turned her attention to the paper and started to read. She immediately recognised the name involved. Three sentences in, she realised that it was worse than she could have possibly imagined.
‘This is a request for comment.’ Queen Margaux’s voice broke through her horror. ‘It’s from one of the more responsible papers, and if I speak to the editor I can refute the claims and at least delay publication. If they can’t get any corroboration then it’ll stop it completely. But if the man making these claims goes somewhere else, that might not be so easy.’
‘Is...there any indication he might?’ Nell felt her cheeks redden at the thought.
‘I had my secretary examine his social media pages, and it seems he’s already shared the story that was in the paper this morning and made a few comments. Nothing of any substance, they’re more of the I know something you don’t variety, but it shows an intention. But you know this man, Nell, he’s your ex-boss. What do you think?’
‘I don’t think he’s going to give up.’ Nell shook her head miserably. The one thing that neither Hugo nor Queen Margaux had asked yet was whether the allegations were true. It didn’t appear that Hugo was going to, and his mother was clearly taking his lead.
She took a deep breath. ‘I want to say...that it’s not true. I didn’t make any passes at my former boss, he was the one who propositioned me. And I’d never offer sexual favours in return for covering up my mistakes. The previous Head of Department knew me well, I worked for him for three years, ask him—’
‘Don’t, Nell.’ Hugo interrupted her. ‘You shouldn’t have to defend yourself.’
‘I want to. It’s the truth.’
Queen Margaux turned to Nell, laying her hand on hers. ‘I didn’t doubt it, Nell. But thank you for clarifying things. This is a situation where we must be clear and direct in all of our dealings.’
‘Yes, we can be clear and direct in completely refuting these allegations.’ Hugo’s brow was still dark.
‘Of course, Hugo. But if you’d read the whole piece, you’d see that there’s a reference at the end to a romantic entanglement between the two of you. If Nell’s real relationship with you were known, then it might well defuse the situation.’
Nell shook her head. ‘I’m sorry but...no. I’m Hugo’s doctor, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that if he wants to keep the details of his medical condition private, that’s what happens. I can’t allow it.’
‘Nell, that’s up to me.’
If Hugo was about to make an abrupt about-turn on the question of his own privacy, Nell wasn’t. ‘You’ve already expressed your wishes, Hugo, and while I don’t altogether agree with them, it’s my duty to uphold them. I won’t have it.’
‘But—’
‘There’s always the Royal Agreement,’ Queen Margaux cut her son short.
‘That doesn’t apply here, Mother.’
‘It might. Since the papers seem already to be jumping to conclusions...’ Queen Margaux reached for the folder, taking off her reading glasses. ‘I’ll leave you both to consider the options. But in the meantime, Nell, I want you to understand that you have my full support in this. We will do whatever it takes.’
Nell stammered her thanks, and Hugo rose to see his mother out. While they were gone, Nell concentrated on keeping breathing. Because it appeared that was about the only thing that Martin could never take away from her.
CHAPTER SEVEN (#ud65e59a7-5521-5b05-ace0-e0fd12bf648e)
‘I HAVE TO EXPLAIN.’ Hugo had returned to the sitting room and was regarding her silently.
‘No, you don’t. I don’t make a habit of explaining what the papers say about me...’ He broke off, seeing the tears that ran down Nell’s cheeks.
‘I do...really.’
Hugo came to sit next to her on the sofa. ‘If you want to tell me something about this, then I’ll listen. All you need to say is that you want this stopped.’
‘It’s good of you to say that. I want to tell you.’
‘Okay.’ He was sitting close, but still not touching her. The temptation to ask for Hugo’s comfort was almost too much to bear, but Nell couldn’t do that. Not until he knew all the facts, and he believed her.
‘When I was a student, Martin was a visiting lecturer. He was brilliant, he has a very fine mind.’
‘Okay. I’ll take your word for that.’ Hugo didn’t look very convinced.
‘I went to speak to him after the lecture and he asked me for coffee. One thing led to another...’ She glanced at Hugo and he nodded. ‘I was dazzled. He was older than me, of course, and very handsome. He knew about loads of things that I didn’t. Introduced me to a lot of new experiences.’
She expected Hugo to nod and understand. Instead, he rolled his eyes. ‘I’ve seen that type. No feeling of self-worth, so he has to pick on someone in a subordinate position to impress.’
His words chipped away at the dream. The feeling that Martin had been all-knowing and that it was she who’d done the wrong thing. She had done the wrong thing, and maybe Hugo would think a little differently when she told him.
‘He was based in Newcastle, and he came down to London every couple of weeks. I saw him then and I used to count the days...’ Nell shook her head at her own stupidity. ‘It went on for six months and then he told me that he was married. He said it didn’t matter, that he and his wife had some kind of understanding, but I broke it off immediately.’
Nell looked into Hugo’s face, wondering if he could understand. ‘I thought he loved me. And even though I loved him, I couldn’t do it.’
‘Sounds as if you were the one who was the adult in that relationship.’
He thought so? Nell had always considered herself as the silly little girl, blinded by love. Slowly Martin was developing feet of clay.
‘I don’t know about that. But I stuck to it, even though he contacted me a few times afterwards. Finally he left me alone, and I reckoned that it was just a life lesson and I should chalk it up to experience. I graduated, and got a job at the hospital and things were going well. Then the head of department retired, and...’ Nell felt herself start to shake. That feeling, that she couldn’t escape and that her mistakes would always come back to bite her, had turned out to be about the only true thing in this whole business.
‘And when the new head of department showed up, it was him?’ Hugo was filling in the gaps now. ‘Any reasonable man would have spoken to you privately, admitted that he’d acted very badly and hoped that you might find the goodness of heart to draw a line under the whole business. I’m guessing he didn’t do that.’
Nell shook her head, finding herself smiling grimly. ‘No, he didn’t. There were a couple of weeks of extreme awkwardness, and then I couldn’t bear it any longer. I spoke to him and apologised...’
‘You apologised?’
‘It seemed reasonable. I had been one very willing half of the affair.’
Hugo let out a short, sharp breath. ‘Are you saying it was all your fault?’
‘No, I...’ In truth, after the last six months, Nell had been reduced to not knowing what was and wasn’t her fault.
‘We talked a bit and I thought we’d come to an understanding, but the following day he said he wanted to talk a bit more and could he meet me for coffee that evening.’
Nell still didn’t understand how she could have been so stupid. But when she looked at Hugo, there was no sign of reproach in his face. Perhaps he was just waiting to hear everything before he made a final decision on that.
‘I went, and he started telling me about how his marriage had broken up because his wife had found out about our affair. I don’t know if that was true, but I was horrified. Then he said that the least I could do was give things another try. I said I didn’t think that was a good idea and he offered to take me home. He walked me to my door and then he told me he knew I wanted it really and pushed me inside. Somehow I fought him off...’ The words had tumbled out, and Nell was suddenly breathless with shame.
‘I hope you hurt him.’
‘I... Actually, I had a copy of Welman’s Clinical Procedures in my bag. I managed to get free of him and hit him with it.’
Hugo grinned suddenly. ‘Good girl. The full edition, I hope.’
‘Stop it, it was the abbreviated edition. It still hurt him, though. He made some comment about my obviously not being in the mood tonight and left.’ She was shaking. Not so much as she had that night, but she still couldn’t stop.
‘Did you report him?’
‘No, I...’ Nell shrugged miserably. ‘I was the one who asked him in. And it wasn’t as if we’d just met, we had a history.’
