A Royal Proposal. Barbara Hannay

castle to find that fresh snow had fallen during the night. Now, in the early afternoon, it was clear and sunny, but the air was freezing. A chauffeur was waiting for her at the foot of the steps.

      He was understandably surprised when Charlie asked him to take her to a bank before delivering her to Belle Robe, but he discreetly refrained from making any comment. Fortunately, the bank teller didn’t seem to recognise her as the Prince’s intended bride. Her cards were accepted without a hitch and she was able to withdraw a sickening amount of money.

      Belle Robe was around the next corner.

      Gulp.

      Charlie had seen expensive clothing boutiques in Sydney, so she was used to store windows decorated with elegant mannequins dressed in glamorous gowns, but she’d never been inside one of these places before. Now she tried hard not to be overawed by the top-hatted doorman, the wide expanses of cream carpet, the gilt-framed floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

      Madame Monique, who’d been assigned to attend to Charlie’s needs, was pencil thin with cut-glass cheekbones and she was dressed in a severely straight black dress of fine wool. She also wore glasses with trendy black and white frames and her iron-grey hair was pulled tightly back into a low ponytail.

      Another woman might have looked plain in such restrained attire but Monique managed to look incredibly elegant. No doubt her bright scarlet lipstick and nail polish helped.

      Charlie supposed she should have painted her nails, too. She wondered if Olivia had always worn nail polish. It was another detail she should have checked with Rafe.

      Monique was very organised and had a page set aside for Charlie in a thick gold-edged notebook. ‘Welcome back again, Mademoiselle Olivia,’ she said with a careful smile.

      ‘Thank you,’ said Charlie. ‘How are you, Monique?’

      Surprise flashed briefly in the woman’s eyes, as if she hadn’t expected this question. ‘I’m very well, thank you, mademoiselle.’ Her smile brightened. ‘And now, His Highness has ordered quite a few more items for you, I believe.’

      ‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’

      Monique looked a little puzzled at this and Charlie winced. Afraid so? Had she really said that? What an idiot she was. She would have to behave far more confidently if she wanted to convince the people of Montaigne that she was Olivia Belaire. She was supposed to adore shopping.

      She laughed quickly to try to cover her gaffe. ‘So,’ she said, brightly. ‘I’m sure you have some wonderful suggestions.’

      ‘Of course,’ said Monique. ‘I have a very good idea what suits you now, so I’ve made a few selections to get us started.’

      ‘Lovely,’ Charlie enthused. ‘I can’t wait to try them on.’

      * * *

      They started with the coats and it was so hard to choose between a beautiful long red coat with a leather belt and another in black and white houndstooth. Eventually, with a little prompting from Monique, Charlie settled on the red.

      For this evening’s dinner, she chose a timelessly styled blue dress made from exquisitely fine wool. It was rather figure-hugging and designed to catch the eye, but Charlie supposed it was the sort of thing Rafe wanted her to wear. She tried not to blush when she saw her reflection in the mirror, but, heavens, she’d had no idea she could look so glamorous.

      ‘Do you know what the daytime event for tomorrow will be?’ asked Madame Monique, watching Charlie closely.

      Charlie was relieved that she could answer this. ‘I believe I’ll be visiting the children’s hospital.’

      The woman’s eyebrows rose, but she made no comment as she showed Charlie a rather demure dress in grey with a box neckline and a wide band around the waist.

      ‘Hmm,’ said Charlie. ‘That’s lovely, but do you have anything that’s a bit more—fun?’

      ‘Fun, Mademoiselle Olivia?’ Madame Monique was clearly surprised.

      Charlie wondered if she’d used the wrong French word. ‘Something more appealing to the children, something a little more—relaxed?’

      ‘Oh, I see, of course.’ Monique went back to her racks, frowning.

      Charlie followed her. The clothes were extremely elegant, but there were rather a lot of beiges and greys and blacks. She was wondering if she would be better off just wearing a pair of jeans and one of her own sweaters when something caught her eye.

      ‘What about this?’ she said, lifting out a hanger to inspect the dress more closely. It was a feminine shift dress with elbow-length sleeves and a delicate all-over print of little red sail boats with white sails on a navy-blue background. ‘This would be perfect. Do you have it in my size?’

      Now Monique looked worried. ‘But, mademoiselle, don’t you remember? You already have this dress. You bought it two weeks ago.’

      ‘Oh.’ Charlie wished she could sink through the floor. ‘Yes, of course,’ she said shakily. ‘How silly of me. I—I took it home to Saint-Tropez, you see, when I—when I visited my mother—and I—’

      It was awful to lie so blatantly and just saying the word ‘mother’ felt terribly wrong. She couldn’t quite finish the sentence, but if Monique was baffled, and Charlie was sure that she had to be, she discreetly covered the reaction.

      ‘What about this?’ Monique lifted out a white dress with black polka dots and a short black jacket. ‘I think this would suit you beautifully. And it certainly looks...détendu.’

      This outfit did indeed suit Charlie very well and it had the right playful vibe she’d been hoping for. It was added to the stash, along with an oh-my-God evening gown of pale sea-green satin that was the most elegant and glamorous thing Charlie had ever clapped eyes on, let alone worn.

      She felt a little faint as she wondered what the price tag might be.

      ‘And now for your shoes,’ said Monique.

      The fainting sensation grew stronger for Charlie. Oh, dear. She had to sit down.

      Monique fussed. ‘Mademoiselle Olivia, are you all right? What can I get you? A glass of water perhaps? Coffee?’

      ‘Perhaps some water,’ said Charlie. ‘Thank you.’

      Monique tut-tutted when she returned with the water. ‘Perhaps you are not well, mademoiselle.’

      ‘No, I’m fine,’ Charlie insisted, after taking several reviving sips. ‘It’s probably—’ She was about to use jet lag as an excuse when she remembered that her sister, Olivia, hadn’t been flying halfway across the world in a jet. ‘I’m just a bit tired,’ she said instead. ‘And I was wondering—before we start on the shoes, would you mind telling me how much I have spent so far?’

      This time, Madame Monique didn’t try to cover her surprise. Her eyebrows shot high above her black and white spectacle frames. ‘But you know there’s no need to concern yourself, my dear. This goes on the St Romain account, does it not?’

      Charlie had no idea what arrangement Rafe had made with Olivia. All she knew was that he’d paid her, Charlie, an extremely generous sum and she wouldn’t dream of asking him for anything more.

      ‘I’m paying for today’s purchases,’ she said, but as the words left her mouth she saw Monique’s expression of jaw-dropping shock and knew that she’d made yet another mistake.

      * * *

      The dinner that evening was an official affair with some of Montaigne’s most important businessmen and their wives. Charlie wore the blue wool dress and a new pair of skin-toned high heels that she hoped would go with almost everything, although Madame Monique had persuaded her that she needed black boots to go with her overcoat.

      ‘You look beautiful,’ Prince Rafael told her when he saw her.

      ‘Thanks.’