The queen sat where Gus did yesterday, fixed her tea with cream, and selected a scone. “The boys are shocked. Still struggling to take it all in. Edric feels more betrayed than he’s prepared to admit, but I’ll give him time. I understand. He believed we had a completely open and honest relationship.”
“Will you meet her?”
“I’m not sure. She’s a grown woman in her thirties with a very American life. The House of Blue is a life all its own. I wouldn’t expect her to change for us, but I’d like her to know the truth. She grew up thinking her mum died. I’d like her to know I loved her.”
“Trent O’Shay never married?” Daffy stirred cream into her tea but never drank. The conversation required her attention.
“No. Which, I must admit, surprised me. I anticipated a call from him one day to say he’d found someone and she was ready to adopt Scottie. He was charming and handsome. Quite funny. Certainly swept me off my feet, and then some.” She blew softly over the surface of her tea. “Can you forgive me, Daffy? For everything. Banning you. Shutting you out. Sacking you. I was really angry at myself all those times. Not you. If you’d like, please rejoin the Royal Trust.”
The moment was so simple. So peaceful. So healing. No more needed to be said.
“Your Majesty, I understand. All is forgiven. As for my job, thank you, but I’m Daffy 3.0 now.” At the queen’s quizzical look, she explained. “Reinventing myself. Going for a different angle on curating. I only joined the Trust because Mum said she needed me. Maybe in a small way, I’d hoped to see you now and then. And Gus.”
“I suppose my unreasonable response in sacking you has a silver lining.” The queen patted Daffy’s arm and smiled. “We’re friends again?”
“Yes, ma’am, please.” Their embrace was mutual and heartfelt. There were tears by the time they let one another go.
“I brought you something.” The queen retrieved the box—large, white, beautiful—and set it on the island. “I want you to have this.”
Daffy dusted crumbs from her fingers and raised the lid. The blue dress rested inside, wrapped in tissues. The one from Shop Vintage. The one from Adelaide and Emmanuel.
The one the queen wanted destroyed.
“I don’t understand. You said—”
“A lot of stupid things.” The queen held her teacup against her palm. “I wore this to my twenty-first birthday celebration.”
“I saw a photo. You were so beautiful.”
“Trent and I conceived Scottie that night. The gown I loved quickly became a symbol of everything I had to leave behind. I’d convinced myself Trent and I could overcome all the obstacles in our way, but the reality of a baby ended my pie-in-the-sky notions. There was no time to play house, have secret rendezvous in New York between semesters. No time to pretend I wasn’t the future queen of Lauchtenland and he wasn’t heir to his family’s corporation. I stayed hidden in Tennessee until Scottie was born then Trent took her home and I headed to Yale. His family made up some story that Scottie was from a fling and the woman didn’t want to raise her.” The queen’s voice softened, her gaze clouding. “Our fathers had it all worked out, you see. Trent’s father wasn’t willing to lose his heir, nor was mine. The plan was for Scottie to be adopted by a good family, but Trent’s mother stepped in and put an end to it. Trent would raise his daughter. She was a force to be reckoned with. Made my father cower.”
“Did you ever see her? Scottie?”
“Not after I went to Yale and gave myself to my studies, my mission, my destiny. I convinced myself it was right for everyone—me, Trent, my daughter, the Family—to let her go. In the ’80s, unwed mothers weren’t as accepted as they are now. In Lauchtenland, a royal baby out of wedlock was unheard of. Not that it didn’t happen in our long history. It was just swept under the rug. Same as mine.”
“You were strong.” Daffy clasped the queen’s hand. “You shouldn’t beat yourself up for it.”
“I wonder…If I were truly strong, I’d have stood up to my father. I’d have kept Scottie. People would’ve been shocked but gotten over it.” The queen offered Daffy a brief smile and motioned to the dress. “Anyway, I packed this away thinking I’d get rid of it one day. But it took me a long time to get over Trent. By the time I left Yale and met Edric, I was ready for the next chapter.”
“So why was the dress out in your dressing room that day?”
“Trent had contacted me for the first time in years. Tried to send me a photo of Scottie, informing me of her upcoming sixteenth birthday party. Oh, it made me so upset. I spent so many years trying to forget, to hide. Trying not to let Edric discover my secret. You need to know, Daffy, Edric is the love of my life. I love my sons with all my heart. But there was a curiosity about Scottie. Because technically I remained her mother. Had she been adopted, I’d have had an easier time of it, but she wasn’t. When Trent sent a picture and I was so overcome, I retreated to my room to cry, and there you were.”
“Trent and Scottie…” Daffy sought the correct words. “…they were like an alternate universe.”
“Exactly. Thank you. I’ve been searching for an analogy.” The more the queen shared, the more her countenance softened. “Along with the photo Trent asked if he could tell her the truth. I refused. He went on to say she was having a ball for her birthday party. Told me she was fascinated with royals, especially Princess Diana.”
Daffy made a face. “That had to sting.”
“A little, I’ll admit.” Queen Catherine laughed. “But I wonder if she’d not started to figure things out. Come across something about Trent and me. If we’d had the internet in the ’80s, she would have. Of if she happened across an old collection of People magazines. Nevertheless, Trent and I had managed to keep our relationship mostly out of the public eye. Together we agreed to keep Scottie in the dark. Her grandmother didn’t want her to leave Tennessee, so she was a bulwark for our plan.”
“You retrieved the dress to send to Scottie? For her ball?” Daffy glanced at the dress box. So why did she have it?
“I had ideas that Trent could say he bought it for her. Or that it was from an old aunt or something. The gown is so magical and timeless, I thought she’d appreciate it. And if she wore it, I’d be there with her. Then I realized what I was risking, even in the smallest way, and decided against my plan. I tossed the dress into the dressing room.”
“Where I found it.”
“When I saw you, for a moment, I thought you were Scottie. My heart and mind were so wrapped up in her.”
