Page 55 of The English Queen

“I would never use that term, Robert. He could buck up a bit before boys tear him to shreds. Put him in sports. He doesn’t do sport. It suits him.”

“He rides with Vanora all the time. That is sport. He shows interest in music. Vanora put him in piano as well.”

“Is he any good at it?”

“Well, no. He is not Bethany. Bethany would never say it, but he does not have a future as a pianist. He takes pride in trying at it. It is good for him. He has no interest in football, cried during rugby, and hated lacrosse. He does not like things with balls flying at him. It frightens him.”

“Beth says he is improving,” Louis insisted. “She says he is a hard worker. Which, I am sure my piano teacher said as well. He is an enthusiastic little guy from the sounds of it.”

“He thinks the world of Bethy. Just adores her. He’s suspect of her getting married because he knows she’s not going to be around.”

“And he thinks your official title is King of Bacon. Did she tell you?” Elliot chuckled.

“She did. I think that’s cute. I sorta like King of Bacon. He’s a sweet child. There’s nothing wrong with being the sensitive kid. By the time he goes to university, it will serve him well. What won’t is pushing him to be something he isn’t.”

“Well, the boys at Eton will eat him alive!” Maggie was willing to die on this hill.

“Magpie, he’s six. He can’t help it. Six is hard. And people think he’s eight by the looks of ‘em. Duncan was the same.”

“Yes, well Duncan didn’t need coddling.”

“Duncan needed plenty of coddling. He was the first of the two of them to cry. Then, he would punch something,” Keir pointed out.

“Often that something was Robbie,” Elliot added.

“Sadly, yes. I eventually learned to give as good as I got.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “They would row often. All the time, in fact. We would put Elliot between them in the car to subdue the fisticuffs. It was infuriating. You have a brother. I am sure you can relate?”

“I can’t. He’s five years my junior and was always the type to indulge in sport. He went off to the military for real as the three of you did. I didn’t care for it. I was happy to be a nerd. I got picked on in school to the point I asked to leave my high school in Brussels to go the States. I was at a nice little liberal-arts focused school not far from the miliary academy where Vanna went. It was like paradise. No one cared who the hell I was. I could just be the kid who liked books and singing poorly in the choir, and we could call it a day. I had to choose a sport, so I picked swimming because it seemed the easiest. It was fine. But what didn’t help me was anyone telling me to suck it up or man up or what have you. It made me hate my parents, not trust them, and loathe what I can now label as toxic masculinity. I’m with Robbie on this. We won’t be raising children that way.”

“It’s easier said than done if Beth gives you sons. The world will—”

“Margaux, with all due respect, the world is different now. And she wouldn’t give me sons. She’s not a broodmare. It’s not why I am marrying your daughter. For the umpteenth time, I am marrying her because I don’t want to go a day without her. We’re not together so she can secure me an heir. Everyone—and I mean everyone—feels the need to tell her how wonderful it will be if she produces babies quickly. It makes her want to crawl into a shell like a hermit crab. She feels it is entirely personal. I must agree with her. She doesn’t like people questioning these things. So, can we just… not?”

Robbie looked at Louis as if to say thank you.

Duncan said, “To put it another way, mother, what if you got on the girls for not being girly enough? What if you told Natalie she needed to defer to the men in the room more? What if you told Natalie her stubbornness was unattractive, and no man would want to marry her as she is? Now, that’s something I must laugh at given Pa married you and we all married or will marry especially stubborn women at this table—Vanna excluded; I suppose. She is less stubborn than the others.”

“She can be plenty stubborn, I assure you, but Natalie’s pig-headedness is all mine.”

Maggie shrugged. “Being a bit aggressive is a trait that serves people well. It is essential in matters of state.”

“Well, Paul will never be king so… seems unlikely you would have to worry. And I wouldn’t describe myself as aggressive. That would be Duncan. And, unless he punches me so hard that I keel over, he won’t be king, either.”

Duncan joked, “I’m done punching. You have a hard head and I’m ancient.”

“Could being sensitive sometimes be a benefit?” Elliot asked. “Mother, you pick fights with people a lot. And then you must walk it back. I love you, Mum. You know we all do but… sometimes being self-aware and measured has a benefit. I don’t consider myself aggressive. I leave that up to Charlotte as she flies over fences as tall as I am. But… I don’t think it has made me less of a good citizen.”

Keir shook his head. “He’s a little boy. Allow him time to be one. Maybe he hates Eton or doesn’t go to boarding school at all? Maybe that’s not for him? It won’t make him less of a good boy, Magpie.”

“He’s a sweet boy,” Maggie finally agreed. “Perhaps, you all have a point. After all, you are men. And I am sure my views on this matter are outdated.”

Louis dealt with people like Maggie his entire life. His father had beaten him for crying as a child. His mother browbeat him over it—alternating between mercilessly teasing him for his emotional nature and telling him to be a man because he would be king someday. To six-year-old Louis, none of that was helpful. Something in him was triggered by this discussion. It made him feel protective of his inner child.

?????

Beth and Louis were in the car to the Royal Palace from the Oslo Airport when he let out, “I don’t want to hit our children.”

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