Her Royal Baby

by Marion Lennox

  So how the hell was he to get her to sign release papers?

  It’d have to be money, he thought, as he sat back beside Charles and the big car nosed its way towards Sydney. She looked as if she didn’t have a penny to spare. Her sister had married for money. Money would no doubt buy Henry for him.

  He had to play it right, though. He had to give her time to settle. If he offered money right at this minute she might throw it back at him just to spite him.

  No. Let her see the baby-tell her how much it cost to pay for decent childcare-give her time to realise how impossible it was for her to keep the child in Australia…

  Could he do that in one night?

  He must, he thought. He must.

  He had to get home! The problems Jean-Paul had left were massive. If he wasn’t careful the entire monarchy would crumble. That would be okay if there was a decent government to take its place, but Jean-Paul had been running the country like a miniature despot for years, milking it for every penny he could. He’d manipulated the parliament so that politicians were paid peanuts, and if you paid peanuts you got monkeys. There had to be major political reform, and the only way to do that was to ensure the continuity of the royal line.

  Which meant getting Henry home.

  But it was so complicated. He hadn’t realised Lara had registered Henry’s birth in Australia. He hadn’t thought Lara would have had so much gumption. The knowledge had shocked him. But Henry now held dual citizenship. The Australian authorities wouldn’t let him leave without Tammy’s say-so, so what was supposed to have been a flying visit to collect his small relative was turning into a nightmare.

  ‘Tell me who’s looking after him?’ Tammy asked from the front seat, and he had to force himself to think about his response.

  ‘A nanny.’

  ‘I know what she is. Tell me about her.’

  ‘I’m sorry, but…’

  ‘You don’t know?’

  ‘She’s an Australian girl,’ Marc said reluctantly, knowing that what he was saying wouldn’t reflect well on any of them. ‘I employed her through an agency after the woman who came here with your mother left.’

  ‘My mother!’

  ‘Lara sent Henry back here when your mother last visited her. I gather your mother saw them in Paris, when Henry was about six months old. When your mother came back to Australia Lara asked her to bring Henry with her.’

  ‘My mother…’ Tammy swung around to stare at him in incredulity. ‘My mother would never agree to look after a baby.’

  ‘No.’ They agreed about that. Marc thought about what he knew of Isobelle and his lip curled in contempt. ‘Henry came with a nanny from Broitenburg. Your mother installed them in an expensive hotel in Sydney-which Lara was supposed to pay for-and left them. Then it seems the nanny wasn’t paid. She’d been given a return flight to Broitenburg, so she left. The first I heard of it was last week. Your mother had assured me at the funeral that Henry was being cared for in Australia, and I assumed…I assumed he was with your family. The assumption was stupid. The next thing I heard was a message from your department of Social Services to say Henry had been abandoned. I managed to employ an Australian nanny through an agency here, set them back up in a hotel, and came as soon as I could.’

  There was a sharp intake of angry breath, and then more silence.

  What was she thinking? Marc thought, but he knew what he’d be thinking if it was him receiving this news. He knew what he had thought when he’d received the phone call from Australia saying Henry had been abandoned.

  He’d been stunned.

  He’d known Isobelle had taken the little boy back to Australia, and he’d assumed that she’d had his care in hand. But his phone call to Lara’s mother had elicited exactly nothing.

  ‘The child’s arrangements have nothing to do with me,’ Isobelle had told him when he’d finally tracked her down. She was somewhere in Texas with her latest man, recovering miraculously from her daughter’s death and obviously far too busy to be concerned with her grandson’s welfare. ‘Yes, the child and the nanny Lara employed came back with me four months ago, and I last saw them in Sydney. I assumed Jean-Paul and Lara had left the girl well provided for. It’s no fault of mine if the wretched girl’s done a bunk.’

  Marc had stood by the phone and had willed-ached-for his cousin to still be alive so he could wring his selfish neck. Then he’d set about doing everything to shore up the country’s political stability before he’d come to find his cousin’s baby son. Heir to the throne.

  And he’d found this.

  ‘He’ll be well looked after from now on,’ he said angrily, his fury matching that emanating from the front passenger seat. From Tammy. ‘I promise.’

  ‘I know he will be,’ Tammy muttered, but she was speaking to herself. Not to him.

  The hotel Henry and his nanny were staying in was one of Sydney’s finest, on the Rocks in Sydney Harbour. The limousine nosed into the driveway, a uniformed concierge bowed and opened the door to Marc, then looked askance as Tammy climbed out, too.

  There was a plush red carpet leading to the magnificent glass entry. A waterfall fell on either side of the doorway over carefully landscaped rocks. Inside the wide glass doors Tammy could see chandeliers and a vast grand piano. The strains of Chopin were wafting out over the sound of the gently tinkling water.

  This was where Marc had installed Henry and his nanny? Money clearly wasn’t an issue with His Highness, Prince Marc.

  But she didn’t intend to be intimidated. Tammy dumped her pack on the red carpet, wiped a little dust from her overalls and looked about her with every appearance of nonchalance.

  ‘Will you be all right?’ Charles had emerged from the car and was looking at Marc with some anxiety. He seemed to think Tammy might somehow contaminate Marc. ‘You don’t wish to stay at the embassy tonight, Your Highness?’

  ‘I’ll be fine here.’ Marc glanced at his watch. ‘If you could collect me and the boy at eleven tomorrow…? The flight is at two.’

  ‘I’ll do that.’ With a last worried glance at Tammy, Charles disappeared back into the limo-which left Marc and Tammy standing on the red carpet together.

  A prince with his princess? Tammy looked Marc up and down, then glanced down at her worn boots and almost smiled.

  Almost. Smiling was actually a long way from what she felt like doing.

  ‘Take me to Henry.’

  ‘You don’t want to clean up first?’

  She glared at him then. Really glared. ‘How old did you tell me Henry was?’

  ‘Ten months.’

  ‘You think he’s going to judge me because of a little dirt?’

  ‘I…no.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’

  The concierge was still hovering, holding the door for them to enter, but by his expression Tammy could tell that given half a hint he’d grab her and haul her away. She looked the type who’d be annoying the customers, not paying to be here.

  ‘It’s all right,’ she told him. ‘I’m not about to mug His Royal Highness. I just want to see my nephew.’ She heaved her pack up over her shoulder and stomped through into the plush foyer, leaving Marc to follow.

  Marc stared after her for a long moment-and then shrugged and followed.

  The suite Henry and his nanny were occupying was on the sixth floor. Marc knocked once, knocked again, and the door finally swung wide.

  Most people’s first instinct would be to glance at the view-from this position it was spectacular-but Sydney’s Opera House and the Harbour Bridge beyond held no interest for Tammy. Her eyes were all on Henry. She brushed past Marc and was in the room before he was.

  He was just like Lara!

  Lara had been the loveliest baby. Tammy’s sister had been born with a fuzz of dark curls and huge brown eyes that had seemed to take over her entire face. She’d had a smile that could light up a room.

  And here was Henry, and Henry was just the same. The only difference was that this little boy was
n’t smiling. He was seated in his cot beside the window, watching the harbour below. His eyes were wide and wary, but there was no trace of the smile his mother seemed to have been born with. As Tammy and Marc came through the door he turned to see who was entering his world, but there was no hint of expectation in his eyes.

  He looked like a child who had no one.

  The nanny had been reading, Tammy saw. A paperback had been hastily thrust aside and a daytime television programme was blaring. The little boy was wide awake but he was simply sitting in his cot. There wasn’t a toy in sight. His only distraction was the window.

  And the nanny had been watching television and reading. Dear heaven…

  Tammy dropped her pack and was across the room in seconds, gathering the little boy into her arms as if he was her own. As her face nestled into the familiar curls, as she smelled the familiar scent of baby powder and…well, just baby…it was all too much. Until this minute what Marc was telling her had been a fairy tale. But this was real. Henry was real.

  For the first time in years she burst into tears.

  The child didn’t respond. He held himself stiffly against her, his small body rigid. His expression didn’t change at all.

  Slowly Tammy pulled herself together. She was aware that the other adults were watching her without comment-the nanny, who looked about sixteen, and Marc. Their expressions were wary, as if they didn’t know where they’d go from here.

  Which was maybe just as well, as Tammy didn’t know where she was going either.

  There was a vast armchair beside her. She sank into it, perching Henry on her lap so she could look at him properly.

  The little boy gazed back up at her, and then his gaze returned to the window. Windows were more important than people, his expression said.

  ‘Henry?’ It was a faint whisper against his cheek, but the child didn’t respond.

  ‘He doesn’t answer to his name,’ the nanny said, as if it was something Tammy should know. ‘He’s only ten months old.’

  That didn’t make sense. ‘He’s sitting up,’ Tammy said. He’d been sitting in his cot as they entered. ‘Is he crawling?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Then surely he should know his name. If he’s crawling that means he’s developing fine.’

  ‘I guess,’ the nanny said indifferently. ‘He’s pretty advanced.’

  ‘But he still doesn’t respond. Does he say anything?’

  ‘No. Why should he?’

  Why should he indeed? The little boy’s stare was lack-lustre, as if he was bored with what was before him. Maybe if Tammy had been staring at the same view for weeks on end…

  ‘Do you play with him?’ Tammy asked, and watched as the girl cast a furtive glance at her novel.

  ‘Of course I do.’

  ‘Of course nothing.’ Her fury was mounting, until she felt like hitting out. She was hugging the little boy to her, and that stopped her raising her voice, but her fury was barely disguised in her whisper. ‘This isn’t normal.’

  ‘I’ll get him a proper full-time nanny when we return to Broitenburg,’ Marc told her, and Tammy could hear the uneasiness in his own voice. He knew what the problem was. ‘Kylie was employed via an agency and the situation was urgent. I was lucky to get her at short notice.’

  ‘So he’s been with Kylie, or someone like her, since his parents died?’ Tammy was stroking the little boy’s curls, trying to find some sort of response from him. ‘Or longer. Has he been with nannies since birth?’

  ‘I’d imagine so,’ Marc told her. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Does anyone know?’ She rose then, standing to her full five feet six inches and glaring at the pair of them. She held the baby against her as if she was prepared to battle the world on his behalf. ‘Does anyone know anything about how my nephew has been cared for? He’s obviously been fed and clothed. Has anything else been done?’

  ‘I…’

  ‘Anything at all?’ Tammy’s rage was threatening to overwhelm her. ‘Have you ever seen anyone give this little boy a hug? Has anyone ever played peek-a-boo with him? Has anyone loved him?’

  Marc bit his lip. He was on the back foot here, and he knew it. ‘He’ll be looked after when he gets home.’

  ‘No,’ she snapped. ‘Or at least not by you he won’t. Nor any of your nannies-even if you have nannies by the thousand. If Lara’s named me legal guardian then I can only be thankful. Henry’s at home right now. He’s staying in Australia and he’s staying with me. Thank you very much for bringing his situation to my attention, Prince Whatever-Your-Name-Is, but I don’t think we need trouble you further. If I can just collect his things, I’ll take him now.’

  ‘But-’

  ‘I’m his legal guardian. The rest of you can go to hell!’

  CHAPTER THREE

  SHE wasn’t budging.

  Tammy didn’t release the child for a moment, almost as if she feared if she put him down Marc would snatch him from her. She held him tight and moved around the room, collecting anything that looked like his and tossing it into a heap on the armchair.

  ‘Can we talk about this?’ Marc demanded and Tammy shook her head.

  ‘There’s nothing to talk about.’

  ‘You can’t take him.’

  ‘Watch me.’

  ‘You can’t afford to keep him.’

  That stopped her. She whirled to face him, her face rigid with fury. ‘No,’ she snapped. ‘I can’t afford to keep him-like this.’ She motioned around her at the five-star luxury and the glorious views. ‘But if you think this is what he needs then you’re mistaken. He doesn’t need money. He doesn’t need nannies and views and Room Service. He needs hugs and cuddles and someone who cares. Which you’ve shown very clearly that you don’t.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Yeah. Pull the other leg. It plays “Jingle Bells”.’

  ‘Will you slow down?’ She was tossing a packet of milk formula onto her pile with such ferocity that it bounced onto the floor.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Please?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Have you thought it through? How can you look after a baby?’

  ‘I can look after a baby better than you.’

  ‘You obviously don’t have the money for decent childcare.’

  ‘Who says I don’t?’ Another formula packet hit the first and suffered a similar fate. Marc leaned over and retrieved both packets, setting them side by side on the chair. Behind them the nanny-Kylie-looked on with wide-eyed wonder.

  ‘You don’t have spare money. I just need to look at you to tell…’

  Mistake. Bad tactical error. There was one packet of formula open. Tammy lifted it up, stared at it-and then threw it straight at Marc.

  It sprayed out in all directions, covering him with a white misting powder. The parcel hit him mid-chest, and slowly slid to the floor.

  The action shocked them all. Tammy stopped dead and stared at the white-dusted man before her-and then she winced.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said at last. ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’

  ‘It’s my best uniform,’ he told her, but was that a slight quiver in his face? Surely not. Surely he couldn’t be close to laughter. And why did she suddenly feel she was fighting back the same emotion?

  ‘I guess you have hundreds more at home,’ she managed, and he nodded.

  ‘Yeah, but they’re at home.’

  ‘Gee, you’re going to have to travel home like that, then.’

  ‘I do have other clothes.’

  ‘Brocade and velvet and the odd crown and stuff?’ she agreed.

  ‘I’m not always dressed up in this rig.’

  ‘Bully for you.’ She purposefully turned her attention away from his powder-coated form-and the sudden and unexpected gleam of laughter in his dark eyes-and concentrated on her pile again. Fiercely. ‘Do you have anything I can put these things in?’

  ‘I have no idea.’ He was watching her, fascinated. ‘Kylie, do we have anything w
e can put these things in?’

  ‘I dunno,’ Kylie said resentfully. The nanny was looking more confused by the minute. ‘If she’s taking the kid, does that mean you don’t want me any more?’

  ‘His aunt has authority to care for him. I’ll pay you to the end of the month,’ Marc told her, and her face cleared.

  ‘All right, then. I’m fed up with this job anyway.’ She beamed at Tammy as if she was releasing her from a life sentence and began to be helpful. ‘There’s suitcases in his bedroom. You’re not his Aunty Tammy, are you?’

  Tammy paused. ‘Yes.’ She focused on the girl-sort of. It was actually really hard not to stay focusing on Marc. The dangerous gleam was still in Marc’s eyes. He might look ridiculous-a prince with powder coating-but he still packed a lethal punch. Big and handsome and magnetically attractive…

  But she needed to concentrate on what the nanny was saying. ‘You knew about me?’ she managed.

  ‘There’s this letter addressed to you. It’s in one of the suitcases.

  ‘A letter? From who?’

  ‘I dunno,’ Kylie said. ‘I saw it when I packed away the baby stuff he’d grown out of. It’s addressed to a Tamsin Dexter and underneath is written “Aunty Tammy”-in quotation marks, like the title’s a bit of a joke. There’s no address or I would have posted it.’

  ‘Fetch it,’ Marc told her, his eyes resting on Tammy. He was clutching at straws now. This might buy him some time. Somehow he needed a way of talking this woman into seeing reason, and it was growing less possible by the minute.

  Tammy’s anger was still firing her actions, and the worst part of it was that her anger was reasonable. Henry’s treatment made him furious himself.

  ‘Sure.’ Kylie cast an uncertain glance at the pair of them and flounced out of the room.

  ‘Fetch the whole suitcase,’ Tammy called after her. ‘I need to pack this stuff.’

  ‘Okay.’ But the girl’s voice was muffled. She was already foraging in what must be enormous storage cupboards. This was some hotel.

  Marc and Tammy were left glaring at each other, the only thing between them one little boy. Henry gazed back and forth between this unlikely pair of adults, his face showing no emotion at all.