WESTERN AUSTRALIA, 1920
We all stood there for a moment in the wreckage. Then I heard the voices of the guards who would soon find their way through the windows above us or through the door we’d broken.
I knew the first thing we had to do was get Helen out of the prince’s bedchamber. I also knew Mr. Waters was in no state to protect anyone from anything.
If we went out through the same door we’d come in, we couldn’t be sure there weren’t pressmen or government men.
“Mr. Waters,” I said, “I’ll help Helen. You need to go outside, sir, with the prince. It’s the prince they’re coming for. Mr. Waters?”
I looked at the prince then. His expression was hard to read, as if the enormity of what he’d done was still forming in his features.
Mr. Waters was standing next to Helen. Oh, the look on his poor face. I couldn’t long watch him. Helen was the love of his life, and she had been with his prince.
I looked over to the prince again. “Please, sir,” I implored him.
“Rupert, dear chap,” the prince said quietly, not meeting anyone’s eye, “let’s you and I form a decoy. We’ll go up to meet them and give Maddie a chance to clean up. Maddie, darling, you’re a dear to lend assistance.”
He’d managed to don his pants and shrugged out of the robe so that he was more or less dressed.
He looked about him, grabbed the decanter of whisky he’d been holding when we walked in and his cap. He put the cap on his head and picked up some papers from the floor near the desk, then called to the guards, whose shouts from somewhere above us on the bank were quite frantic now. Soon they would be upon us.
“We’re here!” he called out, waving the papers through the window above our heads.
Mr. Waters did his best to secure the door leading to the back of the carriage, pushing a chest of drawers against it and nodding to me.
With that the prince stood on the upturned sofa and put his head out the window that was now the roof of the carriage. He placed the decanter and his papers on the glass and used his arms to heave himself out of the carriage. “Here!” he called. “I’ve managed to rescue what’s important, at least.” I heard the clink of the glass decanter and relieved laughter from the men. “And finally, we’ve managed to do something that wasn’t on the bloody schedule!” More laughter.
“Quickly,” I said to Helen, who was still crouched in the corner. “Into the bathroom. We won’t have long.”
She still didn’t move so I put my arms under hers and began to lift her.
She let out a sob. “Oh God, what have I done?” she said.
“Helen,” I said gently. I could smell whisky on her breath and the prince’s cologne, which made me queasy. “You’ll have to stand for me.” This she did, still sobbing. We made our way to the bathroom. We were slow, as I had to steer her clear of any broken glass because she was not wearing shoes.
Like the rest of the carriage, the bathroom was on its side. It was lined in white marble, and what was once a wall was now the floor. I took a monogrammed towel, which was still hanging from the rack that was now on the ceiling. I turned on the faucet—the water ran straight onto the floor, not into the sink—and soaked a corner of the towel in cold water. “Here,” I said. “You wipe your face and I’ll find your shoes.”
“Maddie,” she said in a broken voice.
“Yes?”
“Do you hate me?”
“I could never hate you, Helen,” I said, and I meant it. I hugged her then as tight as I could. I felt so much. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Ever,” I repeated and did my very best to smile.
I went back out to the prince’s bedroom and managed to find Helen’s shoes, a toe sticking out from the upturned bed. I knew I had to get her shoes on her and get her out of the chamber and back into our office.
I could still hear voices above us.
The prince: “I can’t let anyone in there until Rupert has cleared the sensitive papers. But we’re all fine. What about the carriage aft? Have we counted the government men?”
This would buy us a few minutes at most. I went into the bathroom and said, as gently as I could, “They’ll be here soon. We need to get to the other side of the door.”
Helen nodded meekly, let out a tight sob, closed her eyes, and began to pull a shoe onto her foot.