“Lily,” he replied, eyes wide. “She’s here, waiting for me.”
“Gregory, Lily’s dead,” David said, laying a hand on his arm. “Maggie told me what happened.”
He shook his head wildly. “No! ‘She walks in beauty, like the night.’ She haunts me. She laughs at me.” He looked around the darkness, indicating the Great Park. “She’s still here, along with the rest of the ghosts.”
David smelled the alcohol on Gregory’s breath and rose to his feet and extended his hand. “Come on, Gregory,” he said firmly. “Let’s get you back inside. Have some coffee. We’ll call and find out how the King’s doing.”
Gregory grasped his hand and staggered to his feet. “Oh, Lily, Lily …” he moaned.
As David moved to help him, he heard a footstep—and just as he registered that they weren’t alone, he heard an explosive noise and felt a blinding sting in the back of his head.
As he blinked and fell to his knees, undone by the pain, he felt darkness begin to close in around him. Just before he lost consciousness, he heard Gregory say, to his unknown assailant, “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
Back in the nursery, the corgis were restless, whining their anxiety. Alah and Crawfie bustled about, helping all the children feel at home by removing their makeup with cold cream and having them take turns in the bathroom getting back into their regular clothes. Lilibet and Margaret helped the other children. “Remember, children,” Lilibet said, “we’re British.”
“Stiff upper lip!” Margaret added.
Maggie thought about Hugh, then shook her head. He’s a trained professional—he’s fine. This is why they don’t want agents to get involved with each other.
When the Coldstream Guard knocked, Maggie, Alah, and Crawfie looked at each other. “Open in the name of the King!” he shouted.
Maggie went to open the door. It was with palpable relief that she saw it was a guard. He called to the Princesses. “His Majesty wants you to know that he’s all fine,” he said. “Nick to the shoulder is all.”
Lilibet and Margaret hugged each other, and Margaret tried very hard not to cry. “It’s all right, it’s all right,” Lilibet said, stroking Margaret’s hair.
“And are you—well?” the guard said. “Your Highnesses?”
“We’re fine,” Lilibet answered.
“Good, Miss. That’s what I’ll report back to the King and Queen, then. Her Majesty just wanted someone to actually check.…” He began to back out.
“No!” Margaret cried, her eyes overflowing. “We’re going with you!”
Lilibet stood up. “Yes, we’re going with you.”
Maggie walked over to them and knelt down. “I know you want to be with your parents, but you’re safe here and they’re safe there. The entire castle is on lockdown, and they’re going through, room by room, until the man who did this is found. Everyone must stay where she is until we do.”
Lilibet saw the wisdom of this argument, but Margaret didn’t. “Noooooo!” she shrieked. “I want Mummy! I want Daddy!” Lilibet wrapped her arm around her sister and held her tightly.
The guard left, the corridor echoing with Margaret’s cries, even after he shut the door behind him.
After the shot was fired, the Prime Minister was surrounded by his private detective and a squadron of Coldstream Guards, who shielded his body from any potential shots and got him to safety, ensconced in his suite. Frain was with him.
“Give me your gun!” the P.M. was saying to his private detective.
“No, sir,” the man replied.
“I order you! Now!”
“Winston—” Frain tried to interrupt.
“Goddamn it, man!” Churchill exploded. “Someone tried to assassinate the King of England—within the sacred walls of Windsor Castle, no less! I was considered a crack shot in the last war. I’m going to hunt the blaggard down myself—and let him have it!”
Frain poured a glass of Scotch and handed it to the P.M. “Please sit down, sir,” he said. “The castle is on lockdown and the guards will find the shooter. In the meantime, we need to keep you safe as well. You’re worth a lot more to Britain alive than dead.”
Churchill accepted the heavy crystal tumbler. “Very well, then,” he growled, waving a hand. “But if the bugger bounds in here, you’d better take him out on your first shot.”
In the nursery, all the children, including the Princesses, were still on edge. Alah had found a tin of biscuits she’d saved for an emergency and distributed them among the children, who accepted them and ate them greedily.