Page 78 of A Queen's Match
Eddy nodded in agreement. “May. It goes without saying that I no longer consider us engaged.”
“Yes, of course. I understand,” May said swiftly.
Both Eddy and Hélène seemed startled by her rapid agreement. They couldn’t have known that May was already thinking along these very lines—wondering if she could break off her engagement to Eddy and pursue her feelings for George.
“I apologize for all the damage I caused. Please know that I heartily regret it, and I will do whatever you ask in order to call off our engagement,” May assured him. “I am as eager as you are to put this all behind us.”
Eddy leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “We will indeed be putting it behind us. Because you are going to leave the country.”
May’s blood stilled. “Excuse me?”
“As Hélène said, your behavior has been unconscionable. By all rights I should tell Grandmother everything you’ve done.”
May stifled a cry of outrage. Eddy saw this, and lifted an eyebrow.
“But I amnotgoing to tell Grandmother, because Hélène has persuaded me otherwise. She has shown you far more mercy than you ever showed her. I will let you leave this whole sordid situation with your reputation intact, which is more than you deserve.” He shook his head. “You are going to leave England and never come back.”
“No!” May said automatically. “You cannot exile me as if I’m a medieval traitor!”
Eddy rose to his feet, fists clenched. “Then don’t consider it a formal exile. Consider it a promise that if you stay here, I will personally ensure that you and your family are ruined.”
There was a cruel, dramatic irony in this, May thought over the roar in her ears. Now that she’d finally mustered up the courage to challenge her father, told him to get out of England—the very same thing was happening to her.
“Leave, May.” Hélène didn’t sound angry anymore, only weary. “Go to Austria, Greece, I don’t care. Just get out of this country. We will tell everyone that you are in poor health and have decided not to marry Eddy.” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “If you find a European prince someday, none of us will stop you. We’ll all proclaim how grateful we are for your miraculous recovery.”
May felt empty with shock, as if a shard of glass had scraped out all her insides, carved out her tongue. She should speak. She should fight back. Yet she could do nothing. She wondered if this was how men felt when they were struck down in battle, a sort of hollow bewilderment—knowing they were wounded but not how acutely. Wondering if they would die.
Perhaps she and Francis could leave together. They coulddrift together from one royal court to the next, belittling each other, feeding off each other’s relentless cruelty.
Then May thought of George, and something inside her stiffened.
She might have been shaped by her father, but she had notbecomehim—not yet. She would see this through somehow. There had to be a way.
May inclined her head to Hélène as if bowing before a queen. “I would just ask one favor of you.”
“You are hardly in a position to ask favors,” Hélène snapped.
“Do not forget, I still know about you and your coachman,” May warned. “Agnes may not have the letter anymore, but you and I both know that even a rumor could do you immeasurable damage. Especially a rumor based in fact.Especiallyif you and Eddy plan to announce an engagement soon.”
Hélène’s entire body stiffened. Eddy’s voice was low and dangerous as he asked, “What do you want, May?”
“Please, can we keep this between us for a month? Let me sort out my next steps, figure out how to tell my parents. After that, I swear I’ll go quietly. You’ll never hear a word from me again.”
Hélène and Eddy exchanged a glance. Then Eddy turned back to May.
“Two weeks,” he warned. “Grandmother is meeting us at Sandringham in two weeks’ time. If you haven’t left town by then, I will tell her everything.”
Hélène looked at Eddy with unmistakable annoyance. Clearly, she hadn’t wanted to grant May any concessions.
“Two weeks,” Hélène warned, before walking angrily into the hall.
Eddy started to follow Hélène, then paused. “May…I am angry with you, but also confused. I can’t help thinking that you are a better person than this situation would indicate. What happened?”
May’s lips parted. For a wild moment, she considered telling Eddy everything—her father’s hateful behavior, the narrow confines of her quiet, constricting life. The sensation of waking up each morning gasping for air. Knowing that she was only a woman, and getting older, and that her options were narrowing by the day. Realizing that she was utterly and completely alone.
She wished she could tell Eddy how much things had changed for her, and for Mary Adelaide, since his proposal.
But Eddy wouldn’t understand. He was a man, and a future king. From the moment he was born, he’d lived a charmed life. He had been protected, valued. Loved.
