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The Pretend Fiance(2)

By:Lucy Lambert


No, it wasn't the beautiful stylings of the place she hated, or the languages, or anything like that. It was the neutrality. Protected by its ring of mountains, Switzerland always did its best to stay out of things. It stood for nothing. You could never trust anything that stood for nothing. Conviction got you places in life, choosing a side or a path or a course of action.

That's what Judith had always done, at least.

Her hand slipped from her lap and fell on the pile of papers and documents that took up the seat beside her. Some of them were business papers detailing the death of her son, Henry, and the impact that would have on the economy. Others dealt with the passing of the crown to young Aiden, and whether he was suited to the task.

Still others were gossip pieces, talking at length about his courtship of this nothing girl, Gwendolyn Browning.

Gwendolyn. Such an old name for such a young face, Judith thought, picking up one of the glossy gossip rags with a title she couldn't bother remembering. They were all the same, in any case.

Inside was a picture of this Gwen with Aiden at her side. Aiden had so much of his father in him. In the shape of his face, his stature. There were hints of his mother there, too, softening the often harsh Manning lines.

And then there was Gwendolyn. This little mouse of a girl whose nose looked about ready to twitch off her face.

Below all those glossy magazines were manila folders and envelopes. Most of them from private detectives or government agencies. All of them talking in great depth about this Gwen and her family. Some of them were from lawyers, discussing that obscene contract that Aiden had submitted to Gwen.

Just thinking about that left Judith queasy. How could Aiden have stooped to such a level? And for a girl so ordinary and plain as this one?

And all of them led Judith Manning to one inescapable conclusion: Gwen Browning was an opportunistic gold digger from a broken family out to get Aiden's money.

"We've arrived at the hotel, ma'am," the driver said, glancing at her in the rear view mirror and then quickly fixing his eyes back on the curved drive that led to the front doors of the opulent building as though looking at Judith for any length of time would incur her wrath.

"Excellent," Judith said, a small smile curving her thin, bloodless lips. Well, Gwen, and Aiden, too, were both in for quite the surprise.

***

Gwen and Aiden stood at the base of a grand, curving staircase. Paintings and portraits of stuffy aristocrats lined the white walls. Massive chandeliers hanging from the ceilings lent the warmth of their light to the foyer. Butlers and valets in their black suits moved about, helping guests with their luggage. It wasn't like an American hotel at all.

For one, it was much quieter. It was as though the age and grandeur of the old building held a sort of sanctity that few were loathe to break. People spoke in whispers.

Despite all that, Gwen couldn't help fidgeting, plucking at her dress. When Aiden noticed, he took her hands in his and caught her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they're both fine. And stop that! You're going to start pulling threads out, and you know where that leads," he said.

Gwen could remember that moment at Astor's party back in New York as though it happened yesterday. Aiden pulling the loose string from her dress. He'd unraveled her whole life with that little motion. But she as glad of it, because now they were together.

"Maybe. Oh, I wish you'd arranged separate cars for them!"

"Oh, I'm sure they can sit with each other for the fifteen minutes or so it takes to get here from the airport," Aiden said.

Gwen gave him a sigh for that. He never understood the rift between her parents, and she never seemed able to explain it to him. He'd never known his mother, and the concept of bickering parents was alien to him.

"The last time their lawyers arranged a sit down," Gwen said, "Mom launched herself across the table at dad within five minutes. It took me and both the lawyers to unwrap her fingers from his throat."

She caught Aiden's small smile before he could hide it. And in retrospect, it was a rather comical scene: a grown man being choked on the floor of the solicitor's office by a small woman, three people trying to pry her hands away.

"And do you want to know why she did it? What made her come this close to murdering my dad in front of so many witnesses?"

Aiden shrugged.

"It took him too long to uncap the pen his lawyer gave him," she said. She remembered her mom screaming about how useless her father was, how he couldn't do anything right.

"So is it done with yet? Are they divorced?" Aiden said, watching the flow of people coming into the hotel.

"I don't know, actually. That meeting was just before we left for Europe. They were supposed to get everything signed there, but obviously they didn't."