Susanne Hampton - From Doctor To Princess?

‘No, Hugo. I know that’s not what you want, and this is my battle. You shouldn’t be dragged into it...’ The heat in her heart, at the idea that Hugo was prepared to defend her, was burning too hot and threatened to consume her. He couldn’t be allowed to do this.

‘It’s what works.’ Hugo had obviously made his mind up about this.

‘No, it won’t work. Martin will just find another way to make these allegations...’ If Hugo was so determined to make this sacrifice, Nell needed to find a different approach.

‘If he does, then we’re in a good place to refute them.’ A grim smile quirked his lips. ‘You underestimate the power of good contacts.’

‘It’s not about having power, Hugo, it’s about what’s right and wrong.’

He shook his head slowly. ‘It’s about picking a side, Nell. Allow me to pick mine.’

She stared at him. Hugo was on her side. The thought that he would protect her washed every objection she had to the idea away for a moment. He took full advantage of that moment, turning and walking out of the apartment.

* * *

It was done. Hugo had spent an hour with his mother and the palace press advisor, and a call had been made to the managing editor who had contacted them for comment. The promise of a press release within the next twenty-four hours had oiled the wheels, and Martin Jarman’s story was suddenly dead in the water.

‘I’m proud of you.’ His mother had stopped him as he’d gone to leave, murmuring the words.

‘It’s a matter of principle.’ Hugo had been telling himself that. He was doing this for everyone caught in this kind of situation, and not just for Nell. Not because he wanted to hold her close and keep her safe.

‘Yes, it is. Anyone in your position has a duty to defend someone who...’ His mother paused. ‘You are quite sure that Nell is innocent of these allegations, aren’t you?’

‘Of course I am. I’m perfectly capable of noticing when a woman is trying to seduce me. Nell’s a good doctor, and she acts appropriately.’ His thoughts might touch on the delights of the inappropriate from time to time, but that was his business.

His mother nodded. ‘Your judgement is always sound, Hugo. And whatever you say, I’m still proud of you.’

That was something. Hugo reflected that he wasn’t all that proud of himself at the moment. The idea of having his most humiliating secret blazoned across the front pages of the papers was something he was trying not to think about. While he was still obviously recovering, people might look at him with sympathy. But sooner or later, they’d come around to seeing him as a hypocrite. How could he advocate for a heart clinic when he—a doctor no less—hadn’t seen the signs of his own heart issues?

That was just something he’d have to put up with. Maybe Nell was right. Maybe an admission that he’d made the mistakes that he was urging others not to make would emphasise his human side. But right now Hugo’s human side was cowering somewhere in a corner, and it felt far more comfortable to pretend that there was nothing wrong with him.

He walked back to his apartment, pondering the question. Things had to change—there would be no more battles of will with Nell, no more creative solutions. Even though the alternative sounded dull in the extreme, their relationship from now on would be entirely professional. If he were blameless, that would give Nell the opportunity to prove herself blameless, too.

* * *

Nell had waited for Hugo in his apartment. She’d made a cup of coffee, leaving it untouched while it had gone cold, and then emptied and washed the cup. Then she’d retreated to her own apartment, leaving the connecting door wide open, and switched the television on, hoping it might drown out the clamour of her own thoughts.

This was wrong. She’d been unable to say conclusively that she was entirely blameless in the business with Martin, but Hugo was different. No part of this was his fault, and yet in defending her he was the one who would feel humiliated.

Nell thought for a long time. When he came back, she’d put a stop to all this.

She heard the front door of his apartment close quietly, and hurried to the connecting door, stopping short at the threshold. When Hugo walked into the sitting room and saw her, he smiled.

Nell imagined that this was the smile he reserved for the most formal of occasions, devoid of any emotion other than the one he wanted to project. ‘It’s done, Nell. I’m going to...get some rest now.’

Normally she would have applauded the sentiment. Now, keeping Hugo awake until he’d told her exactly what had been done, and how it could be unravelled, seemed far more important.

‘What’s done?’

‘Our press officer has stopped the story. We’ve promised a press release on another matter during the next twenty-four hours.’

Things had moved faster than Nell had thought they might. But it still wasn’t irrevocable. ‘We can undo it then. I can find another way.’

He paused for a moment, just long enough for Nell to wonder whether he was reconsidering. But he was just choosing his words. ‘As I said, Nell, this is my battle too, and you don’t have to find another way.’

This was too much. Standing, yards away from each other, trading appropriate conversation. They should be past this by now, but somehow Martin had inveigled his way in between them, and Hugo no longer felt comfortable with the relationship they’d started to build.

It was obvious that Hugo wasn’t going to ask her into the apartment, but she couldn’t say what she wanted to say from the doorway. Nell took the initiative, walking over to the sofa and sitting down.

‘What did your mother mean by the Royal Agreement?’ Hugo had dismissed the idea quickly, but maybe this was an alternative.

He shook his head. ‘It doesn’t apply here. When my parents were first married, they were keen to bring up their family without the constant press attention that my father had when he was young. They made an agreement with the press, and until I was eighteen, the only news stories published about me were official press releases from the palace.’

Nell frowned. That didn’t seem to apply, but Queen Margaux had obviously thought it did. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me.’

‘My mother showed a great deal of foresight in negotiating certain extensions to that protection. My grandmother was allowed privacy during her final illness. And an engaged couple can expect the same privacy.’

An engaged couple?

What was the Queen thinking? Nell swallowed down her own objections to the plan, because it was something, anything, that would provide an alternative to what Hugo was planning to do now.

‘So your mother’s suggesting that...if we got engaged then there would be no difficulty in stopping this and other stories about us.’

‘Yes, that’s exactly what she’s suggesting. But I won’t put you through that...’

‘You make it sound as if you’re committing me to the palace dungeons. It’s not as bad as that, is it?’

The flicker of a smile crossed his face. ‘No. Not quite.’

‘Well, can’t we consider it? I don’t have to actually marry you, do I?’

‘No, you don’t. We’d have to make a show of being together for a few months, but after that we’d break the engagement off quietly... But look, Nell, your career is at stake here. There’s no point in saving it, only to have it ruined by being engaged to me.’

He had a point. Leaving her job and getting engaged to a prince might not look great on her CV, but it wouldn’t be as disastrous as having Martin’s story in the papers, and it wouldn’t hurt Hugo as much as his current plan would.

‘I don’t have to spend all my time just pretending to be engaged, do I? I could do some work with your charity, if that’s okay with you.’ He shook his head and Nell puffed out a breath. ‘This isn’t doing my ego any good, Hugo. Is it that bad to have to pretend you’re engaged to me?’