Royal

by Danielle Steel

  “I hear my father let you ride Flash this morning. Scary devil, isn’t he?”

  “He was a gentleman with me,” she said noncommittally.

  “Don’t count on his being like that again. He tried to kick me when I walked into his stall the other day, and bucked when I rode him.”

  “A personality clash perhaps,” she suggested, smiling at him.

  “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? There’s an amusing pub nearby. It’s pretty quiet here at night.” She didn’t mind that, but she could sense easily that he did. She didn’t want to be rude, but she would have preferred having dinner in her room.

  “That would be nice,” she said politely, and she had the feeling that he was as insensitive with women as he was with horses. It was all about getting them to do what he wanted, not figuring out who they were and what they needed.

  She went back to the trainer she’d been assigned to then, and he had her exercise two of the horses. Flash was the high point of her day, and Anthony stopped by and told her he’d pick her up at seven.

  She changed into slacks and a sweater before they left for dinner, and was surprised when he turned up still in his riding clothes with a rakish look. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked as they got into the Ferrari she’d seen the night before. She had no experience with men like him, and far more with horses. Her romantic life had been nonexistent so far. She’d spent all of her time around stables and with her father, except for the boys she’d gone out with at university, but had never fallen in love with any of them. They just seemed young and foolish to her, and she didn’t flirt the way the other girls did, nor did she play games with them. She was simple and direct, and without artifice. She spoke to Anthony like one of the guys at the stables when they got to the pub, and he laughed after she talked about the racehorses she’d seen in the barn.

  “Do you ever think of anything except horses?” he asked her after they ordered dinner and a bottle of wine.

  “Not often,” she admitted with a smile. “I was a disaster in school. I rarely went to class at university. I begged to come home the entire time. All I ever wanted to do was train horses and work with my father. You don’t need a degree for that. I thought about vet school for a while, but it takes too many years. I’m basically lazy,” she said modestly, and he laughed.

  “I doubt that. You’re just not an academic. Neither am I. My father studied physics and psychology at Oxford. I don’t know how he wound up in a horse barn. He can quote Shakespeare for hours. He says he wanted to be an actor. He’s a Renaissance man.”

  “And what about you? What are you passionate about?” she asked. She had a feeling it wasn’t horses, although he had been around them all his life because of his father. But it wasn’t a love affair for him. It seemed more like something to do between parties.

  “I just invested in a nightclub with a group of friends. It’s a lot of fun. I like people more than horses, and women in particular.” He gave her a look that was meant to melt her heart, or her knickers, but it didn’t. “I’d like to own a restaurant one day. Or a small hotel, maybe in the South of France. I lived in Paris for a year. It was a fantastic experience. I’d like to live there again one day.”

  “I’ve never been,” she said innocently. She hadn’t been anywhere, although that was about to change in her new life. Until then, she had spent most of her life in Kent on the Markham estate, and Liverpool where she went to college. “I’d like to go to the States one day. It seems so exciting.” There was something about her openness to new experiences which touched even him. She was very young, and seemed even younger than her years. There was an Alice in Wonderland quality to her, which was accentuated by her girlish looks and tiny size, and at the same time there was something very old and wise in her eyes.

  She was an odd mix of naïveté and experience. She was different from the women he knew. They all seemed so jaded and sophisticated compared to her. He liked the childlike quality about her, much to his own surprise. She had a lot of growing up to do, and a lot of the world to see. “I’ve been thinking about going to Australia to race there. And I’d like to see the Kentucky Derby one day.”

  “I went with my father once. We had a horse in the race. He didn’t win though. Kentucky is an odd place. We bought a horse there. I like New York better.” America was a mystery to her, as was his way of life. He had mentioned that he was thirty years old, and the difference in their ages and life experience was enormous. He had gone to Eton and Cambridge, had traveled extensively, and moved in a fast crowd. They had nothing in common. “So when are we going to race?” he asked her halfway through dinner. “It should probably be sometime when my father’s not around. There will be hell to pay if he catches us. He’s going to an auction in Scotland next week. Maybe then, if I’m not in London. I’m going to Saint Tropez for a weekend. I have a friend who has a yacht there.” He would have asked her to come, she was pretty enough, but it would be like taking his little sister. There was nothing racy about her, and he could sense that she had no interest in the fast life of fashionable beach towns and yachts. All she cared about was horses, and her dream of being a jockey. “And after horses, what?” he asked her. “Marriage and babies?” She seemed like that kind of girl. He had no interest in either one for now.

  She looked blank when he asked her. “I never think about it. I just think in terms of horses right now.”

  “I have a half-sister like you, from my father’s second marriage. She breeds horses in Ireland. She and her husband have a big operation there. My father helped them set it up. They have seven kids. Scary thought,” he said and she laughed.

  “I have twin brothers. They’re sixteen, and they drive me crazy. I’ve been helping my dad with them since my mother died…my stepmother,” she corrected, in her new life. “Actually, my world is a little confusing right now. I thought she was my mother all my life, and I loved her that way, and now it turns out she wasn’t. My real mother died when I was born, but I never knew about her until after this mother died, and it all came out. Now suddenly I’m a Royal Highness, and the queen is my aunt. I haven’t sorted it all out yet. I’m going to Balmoral to meet the rest of the family for a weekend at the end of August. I suddenly feel like two people, or one person in two worlds, my old life and my new one. The only constants in my life at the moment are horses and my stepfather. He runs the stables for John Markham. Most people in horse circles know John.” She was so honest and open about everything that he didn’t know what to say. There was no artifice about her. She was a straightforward person who had been cast into a new life that would have daunted most people. It forced him to be real with her too, which was new to him and unfamiliar. He was used to much more complicated girls who always wanted something from him. She didn’t, which was refreshing.

  “It must be a little strange to suddenly be a Royal Princess.”

  “The queen and her mother were very nice to me when I saw them. I haven’t met Princess Victoria yet.” And the queen had gotten her the highly coveted internship.

  “She’s more exciting than her sister. She’s never married or had children, but she’s had some exotic romances, with the Aga Khan, an American senator, a few married men no one talks about, except the tabloids. She was in love with someone who died when she was young. I think she decided to pursue a different life after that. She’s very amusing,” Anthony volunteered. “I see her in nightclubs a lot. She actually went out with one of my friends a year or two ago. She and her sister are chalk and cheese. She’s the racy one. The queen is all about duty and the job. I think the crown is heavier to wear than one thinks. It can’t be a lot of fun.”

  “I wonder what my mother was like in the midst of all that. She died when she was so young.”

  “So did mine,” Anthony said quietly. It was the first serious side of him she’d seen.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know
.”

  “You wouldn’t,” he said with a forgiving look. “You haven’t been around for all the scandals. She left my father for another man when I was eight. They were killed in a car accident in the South of France shortly after. I went off to boarding school a few months later, and that was the end of family life as I knew it. She was my father’s third wife, and he never married again. He’s always had women in his life, but no one he’s serious about. He’s probably closer to the queen than anyone else. She’s his best friend. I’m not sure he ever got over my mother. He doesn’t talk about it. He’s a decent father, though he probably likes his horses better than his children. Very British, you know.” It made her realize how lucky she was to have Jonathan in her life. He was warm and loving, and the only father she had ever known, and she would always think of him as her father, even though they weren’t related by blood. “I can’t really see myself settling down, not for a long time anyway. I have no role model for it. I hardly remember my parents together before she left. They were always out somewhere. He didn’t start his horse operation until after she was gone, and that’s really his first love now. I don’t think he’ll ever marry again.”

  “I’m not sure I will either,” Annie said, looking pensive. “My parents had a good marriage and they loved each other, but it seems complicated. I grew up in a tiny cottage with them and my brothers. My mother was the housekeeper on the estate where my father works. Marriage doesn’t seem to work out for most people. I’m not sure it’s for me. Horses are a lot easier,” she said, smiling at him.

  “Or wine, women, and song. That works for me,” he teased. But underneath the glib exterior, the good looks, and the charm, she had the feeling that he was afraid of getting close to anyone, maybe because his mother left when he was so young, or he was having too much fun now. The kind of life he led was a mystery to her and didn’t seem very appealing. But he wasn’t as arrogant as she had thought when she met him. There was a soft side to him. Outwardly, he was just the stereotype of the handsome playboy. She couldn’t imagine going out with someone like him, or with anyone for now. The hub of her life and her only interest were the stables.

  He drove her back to the horse farm after dinner, and they walked into the guesthouse together. He invited her to his room for an after-dinner drink, and she didn’t think it was a good idea. She was worldly enough to be cautious about going to men’s rooms with a bottle of scotch for easy sex. She was still a virgin, and had no intention of changing that for him.

  “I have to be up at five-thirty,” she used as her excuse. “I promised to exercise Flash again at six.”

  “You’re the only girl I know who’d rather be with a horse than with me,” he said, laughing, and she thanked him for dinner, and went to her room. It had been a nice evening, and for some reason, even with all the trappings, the fancy car, his good looks, and the racy life he seemed to lead, she felt sorry for him. He’d had a lonely childhood and no mother to love him. She’d been better off growing up as the daughter of a housemaid and a stable hand who both adored her. It had been a simple life, but they were real, and she knew how much they loved her. She never doubted it. The life he led seemed empty to her. He was a lost boy in a glittering world that had no appeal at all to her.

  In his room, Anthony poured himself a glass of scotch and wondered what would become of her. She was like a child, and a breath of air. A little too much so for him. The women in his world were more exciting, and what they wanted from him was easy to give. What you’d have to give a girl like her was beyond him, and would have terrified him.

  * * *

  —

  Annie was back in the stables at six o’clock the next morning, and had Flash in the main ring ten minutes later. He was more skittish than he had been the day before, but her steady routine and soothing voice calmed him, and by the time she brought him back to his stall at seven, he was peaceful and easy to manage again. She saw Lord Hatton go to his office as she walked Flash back to the barn. She was at the trainers’ meeting on time, and got her assignment for the day. She heard a rumor from the other trainers that there were photographers lying in wait for her, and then was told later that Lord Hatton had chased them away. He didn’t want Annie harassed by anyone, nor their collective privacy invaded. It was a great relief to Annie.

  She’d exercised five of the horses by the end of the afternoon, and passed Anthony in the hall of the guesthouse. He was on his way out, looking very dashing. He obviously had a date or was going to a party.

  “My father’s going to London tomorrow. Shall we race?” he said enticingly, and she hesitated.

  “Will we get in trouble?” she asked him with wide eyes.

  “We might,” he admitted, “but not if you don’t tell him.” The challenge was too great for either of them to resist, and they agreed to meet at seven the next morning. She was tempted to ride Flash, but knew he wasn’t stable, although she could have run any race with him. She didn’t want to win badly enough to damage a horse that wasn’t settled yet, and decided to ride a horse she’d exercised that afternoon, that was tried and true and easier to predict.

  They settled on the meeting place, and she hoped no one would see them and tell Lord Hatton. It was a risk that seemed worth taking and she was looking forward to it.

  She exercised Flash the next morning, and switched horses in time to meet Anthony. The idea of racing him was exhilarating. He was a good rider, but his skill was more mechanical, without passion. He had learned about horses and had been taught well, but didn’t “feel” them in his gut the way she did, or love them. She was smiling when she met up with him, in anticipation of what was to come. They left the more populated area sedately, and didn’t start the race until they were well out of sight. She gave her horse its head, and coaxed everything out of him he had to give. She wasn’t going to let Anthony beat her, and she calculated her horse’s strengths well, and won easily. Anthony looked angry when they finished, but got control of himself quickly.

  “You’re a hell of a rider, Your Royal Highness,” he said grudgingly. “Rematch tomorrow?” he pressed her and she laughed. It had been an easy victory for her.

  “Where will your father be?” They were like two naughty children, but she was pleased with beating him, and wanted to do it again. She’d outsmarted him as much as outrun him.

  “He won’t be back till tomorrow night,” Anthony said.

  “Then you have a deal. Same time, same place,” she said, and they headed back to the barns, with no one any the wiser for what they’d done.

  She met him again the next day. She had chosen a different horse this time, one that was faster and more spirited. He danced around a bit on their way to where they had raced the day before. They were both wearing helmets, which would have been a tip-off to anyone who knew either of them that they were up to mischief, but no one had seen them leave the barn and ride off.

  She got a good start on him as she had the day before, and they pounded across the meadow, and raced toward the cluster of trees that had been their finish line the day before. They were almost there when her horse shied from something he’d seen. She kept control of him, but he almost stumbled, and with no warning, she came off and flew through the air like a doll and landed hard, as Anthony reined his horse in, and raced to where she lay, suddenly realizing how foolish they had been. She lay lifeless on her back when he got there, and he grabbed her horse’s reins on the way, and tethered the two horses to each other as he jumped down and knelt next to her. She was breathing, but looked deathly pale. He took her helmet off and tried to decide what to do, and as he started to panic, she opened her eyes and couldn’t speak for a minute. She was badly winded, and when she tried to sit up, he stopped her.

  “Stay still for a minute. I was an idiot to suggest this. Can you move?” he asked her. She gently moved her arms and legs and smiled up at him as she caught her breath enough to speak t
o him.

  “It was fun, until I fell. I haven’t come off in years.”

  “I should have known better. I’m older than you are.” He took off his jacket and folded it under her head, looking deeply concerned. “Do you think you can sit up?” He could tell that she wasn’t paralyzed but had difficulty moving. She’d had a hard fall.

  “Should we finish the race?” she asked as she sat up and saw stars for a minute, and then her head cleared. She had a slight headache, but nothing serious, and nothing was broken. She had been lucky. She’d been going at breakneck speed, but the ground had been soft enough to cushion her fall.

  “You’re insane. Do you think you can ride back, or do you want to ride with me?” he asked as he helped her to her feet. She was as light as a feather.

  “I’m fine,” she said gamely, but she looked unsteady to him. He held her arm until she seemed solid on her feet, and he gave her a leg up back into the saddle, and he watched her closely to make sure she wasn’t dizzy, and stayed close to her. He knew she had to be feeling badly bruised from the fall, but she was steady in the saddle, and never complained. She was much tougher than she looked.

  “You are one hell of a rider, and damn brave. I thought you were dead for a minute,” he admitted, still shaken by the sight of her flying through the air like a leaf on the wind.

  “So did I,” she said and grinned at him.

  “You could have broken your neck. I’m not racing you again.” She was too daring to be safe.

  “You’re just afraid I’ll beat you. I probably would have if the damn horse hadn’t tripped.”

  “You were not going to beat me this time. I was two lengths ahead of you.”

  “One, and I was catching up. I hadn’t gotten Mercury up to full speed yet.”

  “Don’t be a sore loser,” he teased her with a broad grin, grateful that she hadn’t been injured. It seemed like a miracle that she wasn’t. “You probably came off just to get sympathy. That’s women riders for you. And you want to be a jockey? In what, the powder puff races?” He teased her all the way back, but he had unlimited respect for her now. She was the ballsiest girl he’d ever met. “You’re a hell of a lot stronger than you look,” he complimented her, and even he could recognize that she was a better rider than he was. She was at one with the horse at all times, even if she’d flown off. If the horse hadn’t stumbled, she would have won in the end, and he knew it. “Let’s ride again sometime,” he suggested, “but no racing.”