Annie took criticism well, which no one would have said of Anthony Hatton. If nothing else, his father thought Annie would be good for him, even as a friend, just as his own friendship with the dignified Queen Alexandra had tempered him. They were good contrasts and counterpoints to each other.
The queen was pleased with everything she’d heard, both from her old friend, and others who encountered the princess. It was difficult to believe that she’d grown up as simply as she had, brought up by people who were essentially servants, but her stepfather was known to be of high moral character. The royal family thought less of his late wife after what she’d done. And it amazed everyone in the family that Princess Anne Louise had gone undiscovered for so long.
She was excited and nervous about her upcoming weekend at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, to meet the rest of the family. The queen had purposely moved slowly to include her to give Annie time to adjust to her new life, and not overwhelm her, and she had convinced the Queen Mother to be patient too. And it made sense to her as well. This wasn’t Charlotte returning from the dead. To Annie, everything and everyone around her was brand new.
Balmoral was said to be the most relaxed of the queen’s homes, where she enjoyed a proper vacation every summer, with family picnics and barbecues, and fishing for all, which was why she had chosen it for Annie’s family debut. Annie spoke to Jonathan about it, and was anxious about what it would be like, and how she should behave. It was all new to her, and no matter what her lineage, she was the stranger in their midst. Everyone had been gracious to her so far, particularly the Queen Mother, her grandmother, and the monarch herself, who treated her like any other young girl, with ease, and chatted with her when they met at the stables.
The queen was a frequent visitor at the stables when she had time, in order to discuss recent and future purchases, which of the stallions they were using for stud services, which was a lucrative business for them, and upcoming races. It was a going concern and did well, and a serious business interest of the queen’s, although the rumor was that the prince consort didn’t share her passion, and only came to major races under duress. He was never seen at the stables with her, but he would be at Balmoral when Annie was there. She hadn’t met him yet, or her aunt Victoria, who would be staying there on her way to or from the South of France for more hedonistic pursuits.
Annie gleaned whatever information she could from Anthony about Balmoral, since he and his father were frequent visitors there, but he was much more excited about his own trip to Saint Tropez. He wished Annie luck when she left for Scotland by train. Jonathan’s best advice had been to just be herself, which didn’t give her much help. She wasn’t even sure what kind of clothes to bring, and had no woman to ask. All Anthony said was to bring some nice dresses and you’ll be fine.
“What kind of ‘nice’？” she pressed him over dinner at the local pub a few days before she left. “Fancy nice? Or sundress nice, or shorts and a blouse in the daytime?” She hardly ever shopped, had never gone without Lucy, and until now didn’t need fancy clothes, but she forced herself to visit the shops in the town near the stables and bought herself a few simple things that looked like good basics to her. She showed them to Anthony and he approved.
“Why not wear something sexy?” he suggested. She had a great figure she never took advantage of to show off. “You’re a girl.” He had never known a woman like her, so totally without artifice or vanity.
“Until now I only owned one dress, to wear to church on Christmas. All I need is riding gear, and I can’t wear that to dinner,” she said, still nervous about her wardrobe even with the new additions.
And Lucy had never been helpful in that department either. She was used to wearing her housekeeper’s black dresses, and housedresses and slippers on her days off when she sat in front of the TV watching her favorite shows. Annie still missed her, and her unconditional love, and Jonathan said that he and the boys missed her terribly too. She’d been gone for less than a year, and so much had changed. Everything had, for all of them, especially in Annie’s life.
She had an allowance to spend now, which the cabinet had approved. It seemed extremely generous to her, and was put in an account for her every month, but she had no expenses living at the queen’s stables, and she’d never been extravagant. She did wish she’d had time to shop more when she packed her meager summer wardrobe for Balmoral. She saw Anthony briefly the morning she left. He was rushing to the airport for his flight to Nice, and what he referred to as Sodom and Gomorrah with French subtitles in Saint Tropez, on his friend’s yacht. He couldn’t wait.