Braxton frowned and wondered what the girl was talking about. ‘Quickly, move away from the window,’ he instructed. ‘I’m going to have to smash the glass. Go back into the stairwell until I call you again.’
The children scattered. There was a loud smash followed by the sound of glass shattering onto the flagstone floor.
Alice-Miranda peered into the room.
‘Can you get me a towel or something?’ Braxton called. ‘And be careful when you come out again.’
Edgar raced upstairs and quickly returned with an old sheet and a blanket.
The children followed him, picking their way through the glass that littered the floor.
Braxton poked his head through the window. ‘What happened to you lot?’
‘Mr Langley nailed the window shut,’ Lucas informed the man.
‘Langley? What would he do that for?’
‘We don’t know, Mr Balfour, but we need to get back to the palace immediately,’ Alice-Miranda urged.
‘Hang on a tick and I’ll just make sure that there’s no glass sticking out of the frame. May I have that blanket please, Master Edgar?’
The boy stood on an old chair and handed it to the man, who used it to prise loose some small shards of glass, which he dropped outside. He then used it to line the inside of the window frame. ‘All right, then, out you come.’
One by one the children clambered out of the window. As they gathered outside the tower, Millie noticed a woman standing just a little way off. She nudged Alice-Miranda.
‘Is that the lady we saw with the raven?’ Millie whispered.
The child peered into the darkness. ‘I don’t know. It could be.’
‘Now, what’s all this about Her Majesty being in danger?’ Braxton Balfour asked.
Alice-Miranda quickly explained about Fiona and Mr Thripp.
‘And there’s someone else involved too – a woman,’ Millie said. ‘We think it might be Marjorie Plunkett.’
‘And don’t forget about Langley. He locked us in here,’ Edgar snapped.
‘I’m sure Her Majesty must be worried sick about all of you.’ Braxton shone his torch on his watch. ‘It’s after eight o’clock.’
‘No wonder I’m starving,’ Sloane said.
‘Who’s that?’ Caprice pointed at the cloaked woman.
‘This is Lydie,’ Braxton said, ‘but I don’t have time to explain about her now.’
Lloyd Lancaster-Brown raced through the rear entrance foyer at the palace and shot straight upstairs, where he was met by Marjorie. ‘Darling, what’s going on?’ he asked, grabbing the woman’s arms.
‘Quickly, Lloyd, we need to get to Her Majesty and she can explain everything.’
The pair rushed to Queen Georgiana’s study.
‘Gee, what’s happening?’ Lloyd greeted the woman with a hug, then looked at the array of official documents that were spread across the table.
‘Lloyd, I know this is going to come as a huge shock, but please don’t interrupt me until I’ve explained the situation,’ Her Majesty began. Within a minute Queen Georgiana had blurted the entire sorry tale. ‘We need to get downstairs to the throne room,’ the woman said.
Lloyd shook his head violently. ‘I can’t possibly do this. It’s not right. I don’t want to be King.’
Queen Georgiana drew in a deep breath. ‘And I don’t particularly want that either, Lloyd, but you can see we have no choice in the matter, and besides, it should have been you this entire time.’
‘But Marjorie and I need to be married first,’ Lloyd said. ‘We don’t know anyone who could do that at such short notice, do we?’
Marjorie flinched. She hadn’t mentioned that part yet and neither had Her Majesty.
‘Well, Thripp has just surprised me with the news that he’s an ordained minister and a marriage celebrant; apparently he’s completed both qualifications quite recently – so that won’t be a problem.’ Queen Georgiana placed a hand on Marjorie’s arm. ‘I realise this is probably not the way you imagined your wedding, but let’s just get the formalities sorted now so the children get back home safe and sound. I can make an announcement to the country that I’m stepping down and we can go through the proper pomp and ceremony at a later date.’
‘Are you sure about this, Your Majesty?’ Marjorie was feeling dizzy and short of breath.
‘We have no choice,’ Queen Georgiana replied, looking at the clock on the mantelpiece.
‘Excuse me, Mrs Marmalade,’ Alice-Miranda called as she skidded into the back entrance hall with the rest of the children, Mr Balfour and Lydie behind her.
‘Alice-Miranda!’ the old woman exclaimed. ‘Thank heavens you’re safe.’
Marian Marmalade wrapped her arms tightly around the child and wept tears of sheer relief. After a lingering moment she released the girl and reached into her pocket for a handkerchief. Marian looked up and, through hazy eyes, noticed the rest of the party standing behind the girl.
‘Lydie, darling, what on earth are you doing here?’ She raced over to her goddaughter and embraced her too.
‘I’m sorry, Aunt Marian,’ Lydie said quietly.
‘Please, Mrs Marmalade, we need to find Aunty Gee and Mr Langley immediately,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Have you seen them?’
‘But I don’t understand. Where have you been?’ Marian took a step back and looked at the group.
Alice-Miranda shook her head. ‘We haven’t got time to explain.’
‘I sent Mr Langley to run the Prime Minister’s bath a while ago but I haven’t seen Her Majesty since –’
‘Excuse me, miss,’ the young footman who had announced dinner at the ball had been attending to some pot plants in the rear hall and overheard their conversation.
Mrs Marmalade gave the fellow a blistering look but he pressed on.
‘I just passed Her Majesty with Miss Plunkett and Mr Lancaster-Brown. They were heading along the downstairs corridor past the ballroom,’ he replied.
‘They’re going to the throne room!’ Braxton exclaimed.
‘Is there anything I can do?’ the young man said.
‘No, but thank you for offering,’ Alice-Miranda said. The footman gave a small bow and walked up the back stairs. ‘Right,’ the child said, ‘we need to split up.’
‘You can’t go after Langley,’ Braxton said. ‘He locked you all in the tower. We don’t know what part he’s playing in this, but the man might be dangerous. What about if I round him up?’
‘Langley? Locked the children in the tower?’ Marian Marmalade was incredulous. ‘Just wait until I get my hands on him.’
Braxton looked at Lydie, who seemed terribly out of breath and shaky. ‘Lydie, perhaps you should wait in the small sitting room,’ he suggested.
Marian nodded. ‘I think that’s best. I’ll take you, dear.’
‘It’s all right,’ Lydie said. ‘I know the way.’ The corners of her eyes wrinkled into a smile. ‘I can’t believe it. I’m starting to remember.’
‘Lydie, that’s wonderful,’ Braxton said, squeezing her hard. ‘Now, go to the sitting room and rest. I’ll come for you as soon as I can.’
‘Don’t worry, Balfour, I’ll look after her,’ Marian said, taking Lydie by the hand. ‘You go and do whatever you need to – you can tell us all about it later. I’m just glad you’re all back.’
Marian Marmalade and Lydie hurried away.
Braxton turned his attention to Alice-Miranda and her friends. ‘I’ll go and find Langley. You lot get to the throne room and make sure that Her Majesty hasn’t done anything silly,’ he instructed.
The children took off along the corridor while Braxton ran downstairs into the labyrinth of kitchens and storerooms. He hoped Mr Langley would be in his office, but at that time of night the man could have been anywhere.
‘Where have you been?’ Vincent growled. Braxton turned around to face the man. Langley’s shoes were filthy and the bottoms of his trousers were covered in mud.
‘What happened t
o you?’ Braxton asked.
‘The better question is, what happened to you? Where have you been? I had to go over to the shop myself and then the car got a flat just as I was crossing the causeway. I had to push it through the mud to be able to change the tyre. I’ll be telling Her Majesty that you can’t be trusted. She needs to send you back to Brackenhurst and as far as I’m concerned you’ll be demoted back to footman, if you retain your job at all.’
Braxton took a deep breath and drew himself up to his full height. ‘I don’t think that will happen. Not after Her Majesty hears what you did to the children.’
‘The children? What are you talking about?’ Langley exploded. ‘I haven’t seen them since this morning, and they’d jolly well better be back by now or they won’t be getting any supper at all.’
Braxton Balfour flinched. ‘But you knew exactly where they were. You locked them in the tower.’
‘I did no such thing,’ Langley sputtered.
‘But they saw you,’ Braxton said. ‘You followed them to the tower and nailed the window shut.’
‘I never!’ Langley shouted.
‘Well, if you didn’t do it, who did?’ Braxton looked at the man. ‘Come on, we need to get to the throne room before it’s too late.’
‘Too late for what?’ Langley demanded.
‘Never mind, I’ll explain on the way,’ Braxton said as he charged upstairs with Langley hot on his heels.
‘All right, I’ll just sign this and then we can get on with the wedding.’ Her Majesty read over the abdication document, which was sitting on a large mahogany desk to the right of two matching red velvet thrones. Archie and Petunia had followed the group into the room and were lying beneath Her Majesty’s feet while Thornton Thripp hovered behind her. Lloyd Lancaster-Brown and Marjorie Plunkett were there too, standing to the side.
‘Are you sure, Your Majesty?’ Thripp asked.
‘Yes.’ Queen Georgiana picked up the fountain pen and placed its tip on the page. ‘And we’ll make sure that this one is witnessed properly, won’t we?’
Just as Her Majesty was about to sign, the doors to the room burst open.
‘Aunty Gee!’ Alice-Miranda called out as the rest of the children tumbled in behind her.
‘Oh my heavens! Darling girl, you’re safe!’ Queen Georgiana dropped the pen and charged across the ruby-coloured carpet, embracing the child in her arms. ‘However did you get away from those monsters?’
‘Oh, thank goodness,’ Marjorie Plunkett sighed.
Thornton Thripp’s eye began to twitch uncontrollably.
‘What monsters?’ Alice-Miranda frowned.
‘The kidnappers,’ Aunty Gee said. ‘We weren’t kidnapped, Grandmama,’ Edgar said, ‘but we were locked in the tower.’
A hidden door in the middle of the timber panelling flung open and Braxton Balfour raced through with Vincent Langley behind him.
‘By him.’ Edgar pointed at Langley.
‘Why are you pointing at me?’ Vincent Langley protested, shaking his head.
‘Aunty Gee, you haven’t signed any papers, have you?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘Not completely, but how do you know about that?’ the Queen replied.
‘Because it’s all a lie. Someone doesn’t want Freddy to be King, and the only way to make that happen is for you to think that your line shouldn’t be on the throne in the first place.’
‘Who’d want to do such a thing?’ Her Majesty demanded.
‘Mr Thripp. But he’s working with two others – a man and a woman,’ Alice-Miranda explained.
Marjorie Plunkett’s eyes were like dinner plates. ‘How do you know all this?’
Queen Georgiana turned around just in time to see her chief advisor ducking off behind the thrones. ‘Thripp!’ she roared.
‘Get him!’ Sep yelled.
The four lads charged after him. Sep dived and tackled Thripp around the ankles, bringing him crashing to the ground.
‘Well done, Sep!’ Queen Georgiana cried out, thinking the boy must be a great asset to his rugby team.
‘Quick, take this.’ Lucas snatched a tassled rope from the velvet curtains and threw it to Louis and Edgar, who quickly bound Thripp’s arms behind his back.
The boys helped him to his feet and marched him over to Her Majesty.
‘What do you have to say for yourself?’ Her Majesty demanded.
Thripp gulped.
‘He’s in on it too!’ Caprice said, pointing at Vincent Langley.
‘I most certainly am not! I won’t have you accusing me of things I know nothing about,’ the man frothed.
‘Marjorie, I think you’d better call for reinforcements,’ Queen Georgiana looked at the woman.
‘Yes, Ma’am.’
‘No, don’t let her get away!’ Millie said. ‘It might be her, for all we know.’
‘Oh, goodness,’ Queen Georgiana said. ‘Marjorie, don’t move.’
At that moment Marian Marmalade charged through the door with another Vincent Langley behind her. There was a collective intake of breaths.
Mrs Marmalade’s jaw dropped when she saw Thripp with his arms bound. ‘I spotted Langley when I was going to fetch some tea,’ she explained. ‘I told him to come up here, but I thought I’d better accompany him just in case. What on earth is going on?’
‘And why are there two Mr Langleys?’ Caprice demanded.
The two men faced each other.
‘It’s clear, he’s an imposter,’ the man who’d just walked in with Mrs Marmalade shouted.
‘I beg your pardon,’ the other Langley said. ‘How dare you?’
Suddenly, Archie and Petunia leapt to their feet, growling. Archie charged towards the man beside Mrs Marmalade and started nipping at his feet while Petunia raced over to the man beside Mr Balfour and began licking his shoes.
‘Archie and Petunia don’t seem to like either of them,’ Mrs Marmalade said.
‘There’s an easy way to tell,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Remember when Millie and I found a latex mask upstairs in the attic and we thought it must have belonged to the twins?’
‘Don’t look at us,’ Louis retorted.
Caprice raced over to the man standing next to Braxton Balfour while Millie headed for the man beside Mrs Marmalade.
‘Ready?’ Millie looked at Caprice. ‘On three. One, two, three!’ At exactly the same time, the girls reached up and yanked the men’s noses.
‘Ow! Stop that at once.’ The man beside Braxton pushed Caprice away.
Millie’s jaw dropped as the other man’s nose flew off his face and sprang back with a solid slap. ‘You’re not Mr Langley! Who are you?’
The man swallowed hard.
Archie was growling much louder now and biting the man’s trousers.
‘Well, whoever that is, he locked us in the tower. And whatever’s going on, he’s definitely in on it,’ Alice-Miranda declared.
The man turned to run but was intercepted at the door by a cavalry of footmen. No one had seen Jacinta slink out to go and find them. She thought they might need some back-up.
‘Oh, no you don’t.’ The first footman pushed the man back inside the room. There was no escape. He was surrounded.
‘Reveal yourself!’ Queen Georgiana commanded.
The crowd watched as the man dug his fingernails under the skin of his neck and began to peel back his face, right up over his hairline.
Caprice scrunched up her nose. ‘Eww, that’s disgusting!’
‘Who is it?’ Lucas said.
Marjorie Plunkett’s jaw dropped.
‘Miss Broadfoot!’ Millie declared. ‘I knew there was something weird about you.’
‘Actually, my name’s Treadwell,’ the woman spat. Her voice had changed too, as her voice-modifying device had been removed along with her mask.
‘And I thought she was one of your most trusted agents, Marjorie,’ Queen Georgiana remarked.
‘So did I,’ the woman replied. ‘Rowena, what were you thinking?’
Agent Treadwell glared at her. ‘That I should have been Chief, not you. I’ve always been smarter and stronger yet, somehow, you got the job and I was relegated to undercover fieldwork, having to use ridiculous names like Bunyan. What were you thinking, Marjorie?’ she hissed.
‘Miss Plunkett, you’re not really Her Majesty’s milliner, are you?’ Alice-Miranda said.
The woman hesitated.
Lloyd turned to Marjorie, shock written all over his face. ‘What does she mean? You’re not Gee’s milliner?’
‘Oh, give it up, Lloyd,’ Thornton Thripp huffed. ‘This was as much your idea as it was mine.’
‘What?’ Marjorie suddenly felt ill. She looked at her fiancé.
‘Miss Plunkett, we know about Fiona. We heard Mr Thripp and Miss Broadfoot – I mean Treadwell – talking about it and then we found an old mainframe in a strange room in the very bottom of the hunting tower, beneath the cellar,’ Alice-Miranda explained.
‘Fiona told us everything,’ Edgar said with a proud grin.
‘And what exactly did she say?’ Marjorie asked.
‘That you were her boss and that Fiona 2.0 was located at SPLOD HQ,’ Caprice said.
Queen Georgiana stared at Lloyd. ‘So is it true the abdication papers weren’t witnessed?’
‘She stole them from HQ,’ Lloyd said, pointing to Treadwell. ‘And he got Fiona to verify them once I’d taken over the system.’ Lloyd glared at Thornton Thripp. ‘No, they’re not real. She couldn’t find the real ones.’
‘But we did.’ Alice-Miranda produced the original copy from the tower. ‘Caprice found it in a drawer in the room Fiona was in, along with a whole lot of old documents.
‘Thank heavens for that.’ Her Majesty exhaled. ‘But what were they doing up there?’
Marjorie turned to her fiancé. ‘You knew all along that I wasn’t a milliner?’
Lloyd shrugged.
‘Did you ever love me, or was I just part of your evil plan?’ A tear wobbled down Marjorie’s cheek.
‘I don’t know. You would have made a lovely queen, Marjorie,’ Lloyd said. ‘And you would never have been any the wiser.’
Alice-Miranda at the Palace 11 Page 19
