Page 18 of Falling for the Widowed Prince

Anthony brushed the tears off her cheek with his thumb then took both of her hands in his own. "There is a very good chance that I will marry someone else one day, maybe even one day soon, much sooner than you'd like, but I would never choose someone who would try to make you forget your mum or try to take her place."

"Promise?" She snuffled.

"I promise." He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Nessa nodded.

Anthony held his arms open for Nessa to crawl in like she had for years. They sat there for several minutes before he felt her take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Do you think you can give Ms. Woodward a chance? Be on your good behavior?"

She nodded against him. "I can, Papa."

After giving her another squeeze and kissing the side of her head, he let her go. "Can you wash your face?"

With a nod, Nessa stood and walked toward her bathroom.

Anthony headed for the family area and heard something he hadn't heard in weeks.

The new young queen laughing.

6

The new queen and her siblings were delightful.

That was the first impression Madeleine had of the royal children. Did the little girl even know she was now the queen? Could she understand that at age ten?

It didn't seem likely.

Could Madeleine come in and take the... not take the place of their mother but become a mother figure to them? Or would that be left to the nannies she knew they had, and she would simply be the woman their father married but didn't love?

Was that something she could live with? If so, was it something she waswillingto live with?

Or would anyone really know? Would the Prime Minister and the member of the Council be the only ones to know the reason the prince consort became the regent was their marriage? Would he continue to be the grieving widower to everyone else?

These were things she should probably talk to him about. Things they needed to decide together.

No.

It would be up to him. Whatever he wanted or needed would the right direction. Yes, she mourned the queen, but only in the way the rest of the country did.

While drawing a picture with Princess Louisa - she didn’t know where the Issy nickname came from - the other three royal children came to join them. Tentative at first, but then a bit more comfortable as they all worked on artwork.

"Can I put Mummy in my picture?" the queen asked without looking up.

"Of course." Madeleine smiled at her. "Your mum will always be part of your family. She will always be your mum."

"Even if Papa gets married again?" The queen still didn't look up.

"Of course. Even if your father marries someone else, she won't be your mum. She will probably try to help you and teach you the same kinds of things your mum would, but she'll know she's not your mum and wouldn't try to be." In a move that surprised herself, Madeleine reached over and lifted the queen's chin to look at her. "She'll love you as though you were her own child, and do everything she can to help you grow up to be someone your mum would be proud of, but she'll never take the place of your mum."

The tears that shown bright in the blue eyes spilled over but a smile appeared on her face. "Thank you, Ms. Madeleine."

"My pleasure." She smiled in return. "Now, why don't you tell me one of your favorite stories about your mum? Did she ever do silly things?"

A good memory would hopefully help break the melancholy.

"Sometimes," the girl nodded then her smile widened. "We were at the lake cottage and there was lotsa snow one night. Mummy woke us up and took us outside to make snow angels and a snowman family, right in the middle of the night. Then we had hot cocoa and danced in the ballroom in our socks."

"That sounds lovely." Madeleine leaned in closer. "Hot cocoa is my favorite. In fact, I had some earlier tonight."

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