From Doctor To Princess?. Susanne Hampton

didn’t need to do that... But thank you.’

      ‘My pleasure. There are always plenty of other options when it comes to defying my father. You’d be surprised at the scope his position affords.’

      He was making light of it, but the look in his eyes said something different. That she could trust him and he’d be there for her.

      The sound of the bell, at the front door of the apartment broke the silence. It couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time, and Nell willed him to ignore it, but he didn’t, rising from his seat. Maybe he was glad of the interruption.

      She heard voices in the hallway, and jumped to her feet when Queen Margaux entered the room. She was more casually dressed than in the pictures Nell had seen on the Internet, wearing a pair of tan trousers and a matching shirt, but she was still immaculate.

      ‘I’m glad to see that you’re here, resting, Hugo.’ Queen Margaux bestowed a smile on Nell that seemed to indicate she thought Nell had something to do with that. ‘Penelope. I’m very glad to meet you.’

      ‘She prefers Nell, Mother. Nell, meet my mother.’

      Nell wondered whether she should curtsey, and remembered she didn’t know how. Queen Margaux held her hand out and gave Nell’s a surprisingly firm shake.

      ‘I’m very glad to meet you, Your Majesty.’ Nell hoped that was something close to the right form of address.

      ‘Margaux, please.’ The Queen dropped a slim file that she was carrying onto the table and sat down.

      ‘Would you like some tea...?’ Hugo’s mother was obviously here to speak to him, and it was a good means of escape. It might be rude not to address the Queen by name, as she’d instructed, but Nell couldn’t quite bring herself to call her Margaux.

      ‘Thank you, but no. I’ve come to speak with both you and Hugo.’

      ‘What about? If you’re here to try and talk some sense into me, Nell already has that covered.’

      Margaux flashed another smile at Nell. ‘Then I won’t go to the trouble. Anyway, this is far more pressing. I think you should both read this.’

      She slipped two sheets of paper from the folder, holding them out. Hugo took them both and started to read.

      ‘What is it?’ Nell reached across, and he threw the papers down on the coffee table.

      ‘It’s rubbish. Outrageous... You don’t need to see it.’

      ‘If it’s rubbish then it can’t do any harm to look.’ She picked up one of the sheets.

      ‘You have to understand, Nell, that the papers will pay for stories, and people will make things up. It gives them a misplaced sense of importance.’

      ‘All right. Let me read it, will you?’ How bad could it be? Nell turned her attention to the paper and started to read. She immediately recognised the name involved. Three sentences in, she realised that it was worse than she could have possibly imagined.

      ‘This is a request for comment.’ Queen Margaux’s voice broke through her horror. ‘It’s from one of the more responsible papers, and if I speak to the editor I can refute the claims and at least delay publication. If they can’t get any corroboration then it’ll stop it completely. But if the man making these claims goes somewhere else, that might not be so easy.’

      ‘Is...there any indication he might?’ Nell felt her cheeks redden at the thought.

      ‘I had my secretary examine his social media pages, and it seems he’s already shared the story that was in the paper this morning and made a few comments. Nothing of any substance, they’re more of the I know something you don’t variety, but it shows an intention. But you know this man, Nell, he’s your ex-boss. What do you think?’

      ‘I don’t think he’s going to give up.’ Nell shook her head miserably. The one thing that neither Hugo nor Queen Margaux had asked yet was whether the allegations were true. It didn’t appear that Hugo was going to, and his mother was clearly taking his lead.

      She took a deep breath. ‘I want to say...that it’s not true. I didn’t make any passes at my former boss, he was the one who propositioned me. And I’d never offer sexual favours in return for covering up my mistakes. The previous Head of Department knew me well, I worked for him for three years, ask him—’

      ‘Don’t, Nell.’ Hugo interrupted her. ‘You shouldn’t have to defend yourself.’

      ‘I want to. It’s the truth.’

      Queen Margaux turned to Nell, laying her hand on hers. ‘I didn’t doubt it, Nell. But thank you for clarifying things. This is a situation where we must be clear and direct in all of our dealings.’

      ‘Yes, we can be clear and direct in completely refuting these allegations.’ Hugo’s brow was still dark.

      ‘Of course, Hugo. But if you’d read the whole piece, you’d see that there’s a reference at the end to a romantic entanglement between the two of you. If Nell’s real relationship with you were known, then it might well defuse the situation.’

      Nell shook her head. ‘I’m sorry but...no. I’m Hugo’s doctor, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that if he wants to keep the details of his medical condition private, that’s what happens. I can’t allow it.’

      ‘Nell, that’s up to me.’

      If Hugo was about to make an abrupt about-turn on the question of his own privacy, Nell wasn’t. ‘You’ve already expressed your wishes, Hugo, and while I don’t altogether agree with them, it’s my duty to uphold them. I won’t have it.’

      ‘But—’

      ‘There’s always the Royal Agreement,’ Queen Margaux cut her son short.

      ‘That doesn’t apply here, Mother.’

      ‘It might. Since the papers seem already to be jumping to conclusions...’ Queen Margaux reached for the folder, taking off her reading glasses. ‘I’ll leave you both to consider the options. But in the meantime, Nell, I want you to understand that you have my full support in this. We will do whatever it takes.’

      Nell stammered her thanks, and Hugo rose to see his mother out. While they were gone, Nell concentrated on keeping breathing. Because it appeared that was about the only thing that Martin could never take away from her.

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      ‘I HAVE TO EXPLAIN.’ Hugo had returned to the sitting room and was regarding her silently.

      ‘No, you don’t. I don’t make a habit of explaining what the papers say about me...’ He broke off, seeing the tears that ran down Nell’s cheeks.

      ‘I do...really.’

      Hugo came to sit next to her on the sofa. ‘If you want to tell me something about this, then I’ll listen. All you need to say is that you want this stopped.’

      ‘It’s good of you to say that. I want to tell you.’

      ‘Okay.’ He was sitting close, but still not touching her. The temptation to ask for Hugo’s comfort was almost too much to bear, but Nell couldn’t do that. Not until he knew all the facts, and he believed her.

      ‘When I was a student, Martin was a visiting lecturer. He was brilliant, he has a very fine mind.’

      ‘Okay. I’ll take your word for that.’ Hugo didn’t look very convinced.

      ‘I went to speak to him after the lecture and he asked me for coffee. One thing led to another...’ She glanced at Hugo and he nodded. ‘I was dazzled. He was older than me, of course, and very handsome. He knew about loads of things that I didn’t. Introduced me to a lot of