âWE HAVE no choice.â Princess Charlotte de Gautier watched her son in concern from where she rested on her day-bed. Max was pacing the sitting room overlooking the Champs-Elysées. Heâd been pacing for hours.
âWe must,â Charlotte added bleakly. âItâs our responsibility.â
âItâs not our responsibility. The royal family of Alp dâEstella has been rotten to the core for generations. Weâre well rid of them.â
âTheyâve been corrupt,â Charlotte agreed. âBut now we have the chance to make amends.â
âAmends? Until Crown Prince Bernardâs death I thought I had nothing to do with them. Our connection was finished. After all theyâve done to youâ¦â
âWeâre not making amends to the royal family. Weâre making amends to the people of Alp dâEstella.â
âAlp dâEstellaâs none of our business.â
âThatâs not true, Max. Iâm telling you. Itâs your birthright.â
âItâs not my birthright,â he snapped. âRegardless of what you say now. It should have been Thiérryâs birthright, but their corruption killed Thiérry as it came close to killing you. As far as anyone knows Iâm the illegitimate son of the ex-wife of a dead prince. I can walk away. We both can.â
Charlotte flinched. She should have braced herself earlier for this. Sheâd hoped so much that Crown Prince Bernard would have a son, but now heâd died, leavingâ¦Max.
Since he was fifteen Max had shouldered almost the entire burden of caring for her, and heâd done it brilliantly. But nowâ¦Sheâd tried her hardest to keep her second son out of the royal spot-lightâout of the successionâbut now it seemed there was no choice but to land at least the regency squarely on Maxâs shoulders.
Max did a few more turns. Finally he paused and stared down into the bustling Paris street. How could his mother ask this of himâor of herself for that matter? He had no doubt as to what this would mean to their lives. To put Charlotte in the limelight again, as the mother of the Prince Regentâ¦
âI do have a responsibility,â Max said heavily. âItâs to you. To no one else.â
âYou know thatâs not true. You have the fate of a country in your hands.â
âThatâs not fair.â
âNo,â Charlotte whispered. âLifeâs not.â
He turned then. âIâm sorry. Hell, Mama, I didnât meanâ¦â
âI know you didnât. But this has to be faced.â
âBut youâve given up so much to keep me out of the succession, and to calmly give in nowâ¦â
âIâm not giving in. I admit nothing. Iâll take the secret of your birth to the grave. I shouldnât have told you, but it seemsâ¦so needful that you take on the regency. And it may yet not happen at all. If this child canât become the new Crown Princeâ¦â
âThen what? Will you want to tell the truth then?â
âNo,â she said bluntly. âI will not let you take the Crown.â
âBut youâd let an unknown child take it.â
âThatâs what I mean,â she said, almost eagerly. âHeâs an unknown. With no history of hatred weighing him downâ¦maybe itâs the only chance for our country.â
âOur country?â
âI still think of it as ours,â she said heavily. âI might have been a child bride, but I learned early to love it as my own. I love the people. I love the language. I love everything about it. Except its rulers. Thatâs whyâ¦Thatâs why I need you to accept the regency. You can help this little prince. I know the politicians. I know the dangers and through you we can protect him. Max, all I know is that we must help him. If you donât take on the regency then the politicians will take over. Things will get worse rather than better, and thatâs surely saying something.â She hesitated, but it had to be said. âThe way I see it we have two choices. You accept the regency and we do our best to protect this child and protect the people of Alp dâEstella. Or we walk away and let the country self-destruct.â
âAnd the third alternative?â he asked harshly. âThe truth?â
âNo. After all Iâve been throughâ¦You donât want it and I couldnât bear it.â
âNo,â he agreed. âIâm sorry. Of course not.â
âThank you,â she whispered. âBut what to do now? You tell me this boyâs an orphan? That doesnât mean that heâs friendless. Whoâs to say whoeverâs caring for him will let him take it on?â
âIâve made initial enquiries. His registered guardian is a family friendâno relation at all. Sheâs twenty-eight and seems to have been landed with the boy when his parents were killed. This solution provides well for him. She may be delighted to get back to her own life.â
âI guess itâs to provide well for himâto let him take on the Crown at such an age. With you beside himâ¦â
âIn the background, Mama. From a distance. I canât take anything else on, regardless of what you ask.â Max shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his chinos and, turning, stared once more into the street. Accepting what heâd been thinking for the last hour. âMaybe heâll be the first decent ruler the countryâs had for centuries. He can hardly be worse than whatâs come before. But youâre right. We canât let him do it alone. Iâll remain caretaker ruler until this child turns twenty-one.â