Queen Georgiana looked daggers at Thornton Thripp. The man cleared his throat and adjusted his right cufflink, hoping she would say something – anything. But it was Marjorie Plunkett who spoke first.
‘Your Majesty, our intelligence is credible.’
Queen Georgiana removed her glasses from the tip of her nose and looked at the woman. ‘I should hope so. Someone in your position wouldn’t want to get it wrong.’
‘No, Ma’am,’ Marjorie replied with a sharp shake of her head. As the Head of the Secret Protection League of Defence, she prided herself on her impeccable track record.
‘Why wasn’t I told about this earlier?’ the Queen demanded. ‘The two of you have been sitting on this information for at least a week!’
Thornton Thripp swallowed loudly, his right eye beginning to twitch. ‘You’ve been so busy with preparations for the jubilee –’
‘Thripp, as my chief advisor, it is your job to inform me of all threats made to the Crown. And, Marjorie, I expected much more from you,’ Her Majesty huffed. ‘I don’t care which one of you made the decision to keep me in the dark. You are both at fault.’
‘Yes, Ma’am.’ The pair looked like two naughty schoolchildren in the headmistress’s office.
The Queen took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. ‘Well, now that you’ve finally told me what’s going on, what do you suggest we do about it?’
‘There was a recommendation not to make any sudden changes to routine,’ Thornton Thripp offered. The man sat bolt upright, his hands resting one on top of the other on the table in front of him.
Queen Georgiana arched an eyebrow. ‘Upon whose recommendation?’
‘Mine, Ma’am,’ Marjorie said quietly. ‘I’ve organised for there to be a significant security detail at Evesbury this weekend. We’ll be able to keep a good eye on her at the jubilee celebrations.’
‘Yes, but that’s just this weekend,’ Her Majesty said impatiently. ‘What about afterwards? What about now?’
‘I’m sure Her Majesty can use her considerable powers of persuasion to achieve the best outcome.’
‘For heaven’s sake, Thripp, I’m sitting right here. You don’t have to talk about me in the third person. It’s frightfully annoying. And what do you mean by “achieve the best outcome”? Get them to stay? Is that what you’re saying?’ Queen Georgiana sighed loudly.
‘Yes, Ma’am,’ he replied.
‘Then jolly well say it, Thripp. We’re not playing “Guess that Tune”, are we?’
‘No, Ma’am,’ the man mumbled.
The Queen turned to Marjorie. ‘What have you been doing for the past week?’
Marjorie bristled at having to explain herself. As Chief of SPLOD, she thought she’d earned Her Majesty’s trust. ‘I made all the necessary arrangements, Ma’am,’ Marjorie replied.
‘Well, I hope these arrangements of yours are more than adequate,’ Her Majesty replied. ‘And that security detail had better be invisible. I don’t want the guests thinking that we’ve got anything to worry about. Let’s leave the worrying to me and the two of you. Come to think of it, with the amount I pay you both, you should be doing the worrying for all of us.’
There was a hesitant knock on the door. Her Majesty’s constant companions, Archie and Petunia, raised their heads and growled from beneath the table.
‘Stop it, you two,’ Queen Georgiana scolded. Upon hearing their mistress’s voice, the two beagles ceased their objections and lay back down again. ‘Come in,’ Her Majesty boomed.
Mrs Marmalade poked her head into the room. A slender woman with an immaculate grey bob held back by a black velvet headband, Her Majesty’s lady-in-waiting favoured floral prints, A-line skirts and sensible mid-heels. She was never seen without a pearl choker around her neck and, over the years, had been described in various magazines and newspapers as the Queen’s reliable upper-crust offsider. The daughter of an earl, she had in fact gone to school with Queen Georgiana and Her Majesty’s close friend, Valentina Highton-Smith.
While Valentina had knocked back the offer of the position in favour of raising a family, Marian Marmalade had chosen to spend her life by Her Majesty’s side. Her husband had been aide to King Leopold, and when both men died within months of one another, it didn’t occur to Marian that she would do anything other than stay. Truth be told she sometimes wondered why she did, given Queen Georgiana’s frequent disdain, but there was an underlying affection between the two women.
‘E-excuse me, Your Majesty,’ the woman stuttered. ‘I’m afraid we must get going if you’re to make the hospital opening on time.’
‘Oh, yes, I’ll be there in a minute. Thank you, Mrs Marmalade.’
Her Majesty’s lady-in-waiting cast Marjorie and Thornton snarky looks before retreating and closing the door. The woman had been frightfully annoyed to learn that Dalton, the Queen’s personal bodyguard, had been granted long service leave at the very same time she’d requested a couple of weeks off to visit her sister, who’d recently had surgery. Marian wasn’t sure which one of them had approved Dalton’s leave over hers, so as far as she was concerned they were both in her bad books.
Queen Georgiana eyeballed the man and woman sitting across the table. ‘May I leave this in your allegedly capable hands, then?’
Marjorie nodded. ‘Of course, Ma’am.’
‘Certainly,’ Thornton added.
The Queen pushed back her chair and stood up. The others, including the dogs, were quickly on their feet too.
‘Oh and, Marjorie, congratulations on your engagement. He’s an honest fellow and good company at cards when we can drag him away from that workshop of his. I’ve never understood what he does but others tell me he’s quite a genius with electronics and the like. It’s a lovely story, isn’t it – my milliner and second cousin falling in love?’ Queen Georgiana winked knowingly.
Marjorie Plunkett blinked in surprise. ‘Thank you, Ma’am.’
‘Keep me informed,’ the Queen said.
‘Absolutely,’ Marjorie replied, smiling broadly. ‘You’ll be the first to know when we’ve set the date. I should imagine sooner rather than later.’
Queen Georgiana smothered a chuckle. ‘That’s not what I was referring to, dear. I believe we have far more pressing matters than your impending nuptials.’
‘Of course. My apologies, Your Majesty.’ The young woman’s porcelain cheeks blushed a deep shade of red as she reprimanded herself for being so thick. Marjorie took pride in her professionalism but clearly love could do silly things to a person.
‘Well, I’d better get going or Mrs Marmalade will be spinning herself into a migraine,’ Queen Georgiana tutted. ‘You know you’re both off her Christmas card list.’
Marjorie and Thornton looked sheepishly at one another, then bowed as Her Majesty left the room with Archie and Petunia trotting alongside her.