“We cannot make an announcementyet,” Queen Victoria corrected. “I will let you delay the news, as long as you assure me that you’re going through with the marriage.”
Eddy’s eyes were dark with emotion, something quiet and profound that Alix had never seen in him before. It made her realize just how little she knew him.
And perhaps that wasn’t entirely his fault.
“I ask that you wait a month. There are some…there are things I need to sort out before this news becomes public,” Eddy said softly.
He was talking about another woman, wasn’t he? Alix knew she should care, but she was too bewildered by the speed at which things were progressing: the fact that Eddy had just agreed, at least implicitly, to marry her. Were they engaged? She hadn’t said yes, but this was hardly a typical proposal. Eddy hadn’t gotten down on one knee, hadn’t even been the one to ask her.
“Very well. We shall wait a month,” Queen Victoria agreed, her lips pursed in disapproval.
They rumbled on for several more minutes, the excruciating silence broken only by the clatter of the horses’ hooves. Alix gripped tight to the side of the carriage to keep from accidentally being jostled against Eddy.
When the pointed stones of the prince consort’s cairn came into view, Alix found her voice. “I thought we were going to Glassalt Shiel.”
“Change of plans. We shall pay our respects to Albertfirst.” Her grandmother waited until they had drawn to a halt before letting the coachman help her out. Eddy started to disembark, but the queen shook her head. “Eddy, you stay. Alix will accompany me alone.”
Apprehension twisted in Alix’s stomach. She half wished that Eddy would insist on remaining with them, if only to have another voice protesting this engagement, but he just nodded and crossed his arms, his expression dark.
The queen reached for Alix’s hand, leaning on her granddaughter in place of a cane as they made their way to Prince Albert’s cairn.
Alix had always thought the monument seemed out of place in the wilds of Balmoral, its stones formed into a triangular pyramid like the ones in Egypt. She supposed that was the point, to make it stand out from the surrounding landscape so that one couldn’t help but notice it. The inscription on its side readTo the Beloved Memory of Albert, the Great and Good Prince Consort.
“I wonder, sometimes, what my dear Albert would think of all this,” her grandmother said quietly.
Alix’s reply came out sharper than she meant. “What he would think of the cairn, or the fact that you’re forcing us into an engagement?”
“About you and Eddy, of course. Albert would have loved the cairn.” Victoria sighed. “He was always building little ones when we went out on a walk, to mark places he thought we should revisit. He stacked the stones atop one another in the traditional Scottish way, like this.”
Alix watched as her elderly grandmother bent down and stacked three stones in a makeshift tower. It looked surprisingly sturdy.
“The word is Gaelic, you know.Càrn,” the queen went on. “Albert may have been German, but he constantly learned bits and pieces of other languages. He was very intellectually curious, like you.” She sighed. “I know he would have agreed that England needs you.”
“Please, don’t,” Alix cut in helplessly.
“I’m afraid that Eddy isn’t much like Albert. Neither is Bertie, for that matter,” the queen continued, with shocking bluntness. “George is the one who inherited Albert’s curiosity, his patience. The only trace of Albert I can see in Eddy is his love of this place. Scotland always seems to bring out the best in him. When he’s here, he’s more decisive, more purposeful.”
“Perhaps he just needs more to do.” Alix had always been baffled by Eddy’s tendency to spin from one party to the next, but what alternative had he been given? Grandmama guarded her duties jealously, and refused to share any power with Uncle Bertie, let alone with Eddy. He wasn’t just in the shadow of the throne, but in theshadowof its shadow.
“Of course Eddy needs more to do. Which is precisely why he should marry you, to keep him from being so…aimless.”
“I’m not a compass,” Alix burst out.
The queen took another step forward, her black skirts swishing heavily. “I beg to differ, my darling. A woman is always a compass, a guiding force, to the man she marries.”
“Grandmama, nothing has changed since last year. Eddy and I are still not suited for each other.”
“This again!” Victoria exclaimed. “Alix, the purpose of the courtship period was to find ways youaresuited for each other. Yet the two of you still behave like strangers!”
Alix stared up at the stones of the cairn, its outline a stark gray against the softer gray of the skies. She felt her palms growing damp inside her gloves.
“I know you don’t love Eddy. I’m not asking you to do this for love of him, or even for love of me, as much as I adore you.” To Alix’s surprise, Victoria’s voice cracked with emotion. “Do it for your love of England. Eddy will make a wonderful king, as long as he has a woman like you to groundhim.”
When Alix said nothing, her grandmother added softly, “You need him, too, you know.”
“I…what?”
“You need his proposal as much as he needs your agreement. Strange rumors have been circulating about you, my dear. Just this morning I heard a ridiculous story about how you suffer from crippling fainting spells—that you passed out atLa Traviatalast year.”
