Page 110 of Duchess Material

“Sorry… yes, alright—”

“Were you looking at my ass?”

“Yes,” Winston winced.

“Driving licence.”

“In my purse.”

“No name changes for you. I have my papers. So, we’re good.”

“Wait… am I changing my name now?”

“Are you?” Winston asked. “I don’t have a dog in this fight. I would hope our children would remain Ferguson but—”

“We have many dogs, but no fight.” Lucy giggled. “But... Chandler… it’s not my name. It’s my dad’s name. I always swore I’d rather be Pokorski. Ferguson is better. I’d be Lucy Ferguson. This is all so wild!”

Winston smiled. Her joy was contagious.

“Do we have everything then?”

“Yeah,” Lucy answered. “Let’s do it. Well, I need a bra and proper clothes but… then let’s do it.”

Winston chuckled. “I’m not even wearing pants at present, so you are further along.”

About thirty minutes later, they headed to the local register office in Wembley. They arrived at a desk where an old woman in a bright red jumper greeted them with a wide smile.

“Well, are you here to get hitched?” she asked in a thick cockney accent.

“Yes,” Lucy replied cheerfully. “We’ve brought everything, I think.”

Lucy had carried it all in her work bag. However, since it was a Mary Poppins bag, there was a lot there. Instead of pulling out her passport, she handed work badge to Winston, and then laid out three tubes of lipstick—one labelled “Nat”—and two pairs of sunglasses. Finally, the packet they needed emerged.

“Buckingham Palace That’s quite a place. You work there? And you’re American?”

“She’s the private secretary to the Princess of Wales.”

“My, my that Princess… she’s a laugh, isn’t she? Such grit, I think. Well, she and her mother. Love them both.”

“I worked for the Queen before I took this post. She’s great,” Lucy confirmed. “And, so is the Princess, of course.”

“Well, that’s exciting. Most interesting thing I’ve seen all day.”

The woman handed them each a clipboard as she took stock of the documents. They filled out the forms. Lucy seemed fine. Winston was looking around wondering if they were about to be outed. He suspected not. No one had any idea what was going on here except the sweet old lady in the bright jumper.

“Now, do ya want to see the ceremony room?”

“Sure,” Winston replied.

His mother married Bruno in a registry office. However, that was a listed building with beautiful ceremony options. This sterile room had little light. Lucy was unimpressed, but was being her most polite, Midwestern self.

“Well, it’s… big?” Lucy said.

“You two are looking to elope?”

They both nodded.

“I don’t mean to pry. If you have a nice budget and not many people, there are a few venues where you can marry if you’re not doing a church wedding.”

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