•••
Her first writing for First Home was “Upper Crust: The Very Best Savory Pies.” She included recipes she’d found in English cookbooks, but she usually modernized them by cutting down the work required. She’d use frozen pie crust from the market, or refrigerated pie dough, instead of making the crust from scratch. She tested the pies on James, William, Hamilton—anyone available—and they gave her rave reviews.
Some of the most popular pies were crustless: crustless crab quiche, crustless shrimp quiche, crustless tuna quiche, crustless chicken asparagus quiche. Less work and fewer calories. She sometimes used mashed potatoes as a topping instead of crust, pointing out that the English cottage pie (made with beef) and shepherd’s pie (made with lamb) both had mashed-potato tops, and no bottom crusts, and they were absolutely delicious. Ellen, the cook, was always willing to experiment and came up with great ideas.
Dinah decided her next project would be “Favorite London Soups.” She’d put together a long list of future projects, all of which excited her. She was busier than she had ever been, but found time to go shopping with Coleman, and to great restaurants and great theater with Jonathan, Heyward, Coleman, and sometimes Tony. Every day was an adventure, and she had two jobs that fit perfectly with her two main interests. Bliss.
•••
When Coleman came to 23 Culross to say goodbye, the day she was leaving London to go back to New York, Dinah said goodbye with only a few tears. She would never be as strong and certain as Coleman, but she knew for the first time in her life that she could deal with whatever came up. She would remember that angels were fearless, and try to be like an angel. She would always love Coleman, but she was sure she would never again need Coleman to fight her battles.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Coleman
Tuesday, May, London
Coleman, with Dolly in her carrier, boarded Heyward’s plane—the same plane that had picked her up in Paris. She’d asked Heyward if she could avoid the Omnium landing strip, and Paris. Both had associations with Tony, and she didn’t want to be reminded of her times with him.
The plane took her to the airport at Nice, where she and Dolly boarded a flight to Kennedy. She’d asked for and got a window seat. She wanted to be able to stare out into the dark and avoid speaking to anyone. She was relieved when an elderly man sat in the aisle seat. He didn’t say hello, or look friendly. Good. She turned her back on him, stared out the window, and thought about farewells.
Saying goodbye to Heyward hadn’t been sad; he’d be in New York in a few weeks. Dinah was cheerful, and Coleman was happy for her: Their goodbyes were lighthearted. But then there was Tony. She’d told him almost daily since he’d proposed that she couldn’t marry him, couldn’t stay in London, but he couldn’t—wouldn’t—believe her. He loved her, and he was sure she loved him. She did love him. She was sure she’d never love anyone as much as she loved Tony. But she couldn’t marry him. His kind of life wasn’t hers, and never would be. She hoped he’d find someone else—someone who was young and adoring, someone who’d enjoy being a duchess and the mother of the heir or heirs. Coleman rarely cried, but at the thought of never seeing Tony again, or seeing him married to someone else, tears welled up in her eyes.
She felt movement in the aisle seat. The grumpy old man was leaving. Maybe she wouldn’t have a seatmate. Oh, drat, someone else was taking his seat. She turned to look. Good Lord, Jeb Middleton was sitting beside her, beaming at her as if they were close friends. Was he stalking her? What a nuisance. She’d lost interest in him when she saw him drooling over Stephanie. She sighed. This would be a long trip. She’d like to snub him, but he worked for her half-brother. She had to be polite.
•••
When Coleman was in New York and looked back on her two weeks in London, she saw herself constantly busy, with her family, with work, and, of course, with Tony. Some days stood out, for good or bad. Others were a blur. She’d tried to keep a diary, but some of her entries were short.
She’d had several more meetings with Kathy Mann. Heyward and Bob Brinkley, Kathy’s husband, joined them once. Coleman didn’t like Kathy’s husband—he was arrogant and patronizing—but Kathy looked at him worshipfully. She seemed to think every word he said was precious. Heyward didn’t like him either, and turned him and the money issues over to Hicks, his number-one “go-to” assistant, who settled all the financial issues about Cottage & Castle. He undoubtedly put Brinkley in his place.
Her meetings with Kathy alone were productive and fun. Coleman was confident their venture would succeed, and Kathy and she were becoming friends.
There had been tears on the pillow over Tony, and memories of their delicious days of adventure, beauty, and love. Was she in love with Tony? She asked herself every day. She was, but it didn’t matter: She couldn’t marry him. She would always remember him. She couldn’t imagine she would ever meet a man as attractive as Tony. But she had to forget Tony, and get on with her life.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Heyward
Tuesday morning, May, London
Heyward was in the library thinking about Coleman. He’d have enjoyed seeing his sister a duchess, and he’d never met a man he liked better than Tony, but they were not a match. Coleman could never live the life required of the woman who married Tony, and Tony could only live the life laid out for him in England. He feared that Tony had been seriously hurt. He wasn’t worried about Coleman. In time, she would recover.
The phone rang. He glanced at the number, and answered it. He paled, and hung up a few minutes later. What terrible news. He couldn’t reach Coleman—she was on the plane to New York. He had to alert Rachel, but first he touched the intercom to summon Mrs. Carter, who appeared immediately.
“I must leave for New York as soon as possible,” he said. “Please pack for me—you’ll know what I’ll need. Get me on a BA flight tonight, leaving around six or seven, and alert the New York staff.”
“Is anything wrong?” she asked.
“Yes, some bad news. But it needn’t worry you. Thank you for asking,” Heyward said.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Bloody Royal Prints, covering many topics, was a difficult book to write. A number of people contributed to it. Without their help, it never would have been completed. My thanks to Clair Lamb; Erin Mitchell; our friends at the British Museum who helped arrange our visit to the Windsor Castle Print Room; Elisabeth Norton and Judy Rudoe, who helped with food and restaurant information; and all our English friends, who discussed with me a variety of topics, from where to buy a hat to protecting a dog from dognappers. Most of all, thanks to Dave, both for saving my sanity when the refrigerator went crazy and for being Coleman’s and my companion at all the places we visited. And Dave, many thanks for arranging the nightingale!
Copyright © 2015 by Reba White Williams.
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
Published by
TYRUS BOOKS
an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.
10151 Carver Road, Suite 200
Blue Ash, OH 45242. U.S.A.
www.tyrusbooks.com
Hardcover ISBN 10: 1-4405-8548-2
Hardcover ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8548-7
Paperback ISBN 10: 1-4405-8545-8
Paperback ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8545-6
eISBN 10: 1-4405-8546-6
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-8546-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, Reba.
Bloody royal prints / Reba White Williams.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-4405-8548-7 (hc) -- ISBN 1-4405-8548-2 (hc) -- ISBN 978-1-4405-8545-6 (pb) -- ISBN 1-4405-8545-8 (pb) -- ISBN 978-1-4405-8546-3 (ebook) -- ISBN 1-4405-8546-6 (ebook)
I. Title.
PS3623.I5594B58 2015
813'.6--dc23
> 2014048190
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and F+W Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.
Cover design by Stephanie Hannus.
Images © kritchanut/123RF, iStockphoto.com/Michal Boubin.
Bloody Royal Prints Page 23
