“Any tips for how to talk to her? Should I bow or curtsy?”
“A respectful tipping of your head wouldn’t do any harm.” He took her arm, leading her down a hallway. “It’s right up here.”
“And how do I address her? Your Majesty? Your Highness?”
“Queen Katerina should be acceptable. Said respectfully, of course. Servants and subjects use the more proper address—which is Your Majesty for the queen and Your Highness for the children—but you’re not exactly either.”
“Right.” And not likely to become one, she thought as Spencer stopped by a set of tall double doors with ornate brass hardware. He knocked three times, and one door was opened by a man in a dark suit who nodded somberly and waved them into a large foyer as he spoke into a device. She couldn’t understand him, but she assumed he was announcing them. He turned to Spencer, pointing to the chairs with more foreign words.
“He wants us to sit and wait. The queen is occupied.”
Meredith sat nervously on the edge of a firm chair. “I feel like I’m in the principal’s office,” she whispered.
“What?”
“You know, the headmaster’s, when you get in trouble in primary school. They’d make you wait so it felt more serious.”
He chuckled. “Did you get in trouble much?”
“Enough to know I didn’t like it.” She looked at the guard who didn’t appear to speak English. “It seems there wasn’t as much hurry as Kat thought.”
“I’d rather be waiting for the queen than the other way around.”
“Right.” She glanced around the room. “No magazines or reading material, like at the dentist’s office?”
“Maybe I’ll suggest that.” He patted her hand. “Don’t be too nervous. This won’t be as painful as a dental appointment.”
She laughed. “But seriously, do you have any advice?”
“Just be yourself. The queen respects intelligence and strength. And you have both.”
She blinked. “Well, thank you.”
“But don’t unpack your bags.”
“Right.” She looked up as the doors to the next room opened, and a female voice spoke.
“Her assistant, Miss Stepanovic, is inviting us to come in now.” He stood and took her hand. “Try to relax and exude confidence.”
Exude confidence? She felt like running to the ladies’ room and throwing up. But if Spencer thought she was intelligent and strong, the least she could do was pretend. As she walked into a rather regal room filled with heavy wood antiques and walls full of stories, she squared her shoulders and remembered her dad’s words.“You are a princess, Meri, the daughter of the King of Kings.”
Behind a large ornately carved desk sat a stern woman with short dark hair streaked elegantly with gray. She wore dark-rimmed glasses and a charcoal gray sweater set, probably cashmere, and a single strand of pearls.
“Your Majesty,” Meredith said almost without thinking, bowing her head with the respect this woman seemed to demand.
“Miss Cardwell,” the queen said in a flat unimpressed tone, pointing to the pair of leather chairs across from her. “Be seated, please.”
Meredith sat and Spencer greeted the queen then took the chair beside her. “Miss Cardwell is eager to answer your questions, Queen Katerina.”
The queen cleared her throat. “Can you explain, Miss Cardwell, why my granddaughter, Princess Katerina, is convinced that you are the only choice for her governess?”
“The princess and I have become friends, Your Majesty, and I believe she was in need of a friend. Beyond that, she feels she is too old for a nanny.”
The queen looked slightly taken aback by Meredith’s frankness. “She has told me as much. But I have already engaged Mrs. Bosko for the children.”
“I’m aware of that. Princess Katerina suggested that you might engage both a governess and a nanny. As you must know, Mishka—excuse me, Prince George—needs more care and supervision, but the princess…perhaps not as much.”
She narrowed her eyes and leaned back. “So then, tell me, why would we need you as well as Mrs. Bosko?”
