The Royal Wedding Collection, Volume 3 by Rebecca Winters

Author:Rebecca Winters
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488037177
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

HER wedding day dawned as the day most brides dream of. It was a perfect spring day. When the maid pushed back the drapes, she turned to Rose and she beamed her approval.

‘Happy is the bride who the sun shines on.’

‘Yeah?’ Rose groaned and thrust back her covers. Revealing Hoppy. This was a huge and scary palace, and Hoppy had decided his mistress needed round the clock protection.

There really was no need of it. The murmurings of dissent had grown to a full-throated roar the night of their arrival. The population had arrived at the castle to voice their dissent. Hundreds had turned to thousands. There’d been one burst of gunfire over the head of the crowd, to try and stem the rush, but they’d still kept coming.

Jacques and Julianna had disappeared, their heavies with them, only agreeing because they were forced to that the succession be decided by the international panel. The panel had yet to meet, but there seemed little chance that Erhard would be proved wrong. As long as this marriage took place, the throne would go to Rose.

Was it too good to be true? Maybe. Rose was still uneasy, as was Nick, but there was nothing that could be done but continue what they’d planned.

A wedding. Today.

‘Prince Nikolai breakfasted before you, ma’am,’ the maid said, beaming romantically. ‘For a groom to see the bride before the ceremony is bad luck.’

Well, we wouldn’t want that, Rose thought. Not now.

For this was going exactly as planned. Nick would marry her today. The succession would be organized. Nick would be free to leave her, and return to his career.

So why wasn’t she happy?

It was just…Well, living happily ever after as reigning sovereign was starting to feel a bit empty. What would she do?

‘The hairdresser will be here in an hour,’ the maid told her. ‘And your dress will be ready at twelve. Photographers at two.’

See, that was the problem. She hadn’t factored in the ‘princess’ stuff.

Nothing to do but reign.

Without Nick.

Her mother had been a royal bride, and she’d been isolated for ever. Was that what she was condemning herself to?

Yeah, but…Yeah, but…

‘I wanted to be by myself,’ she told Hoppy as the maid left, but Hoppy gave her a quizzical look, leaped off the bed and trotted to the bedroom door. They’d been here only a week, but already Hoppy knew and approved of her routine. Breakfast with Nick. A couple of hours in the office working through the reams of paperwork, trying to get her head around stuff that Nick understood better than she did. But he wouldn’t be here for ever to help her. Then maybe a long hike in the woods. With Nick. A swim with Nick—yes, as the old Prince had lost authority his son had installed a pool. A magnificent pool. Nick was teaching her, and already she could dog-paddle.

Then maybe a picnic.

Then dinner and conversation long into the night. And then…

Bed alone.

He is going to be your husband. A little voice had been saying that over and over to her in the past week.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.