Princess in Training (Prince Harry #3)

Chapter Fourteen

Trying on wedding dresses, Meredith got more and more sticky. These things were hot and heavy. With each new dress, Meredith stated what she liked and didn't like. Each time she argued for pockets, and each time she felt she wore them down a bit more.

Over the past few days, with events and others, there had been no more speaking of Jack Campbell. As far as concerned, he wasn't out and about. The male was still unknown, but Meredith didn't spend time thinking about him. For Jack's punishment, even if he had nothing to do with, all contact with the outside world was cut off for a week. If it was a prison guard, then even that didn't work.

Meredith didn't try to be troubled by this when she had a flurry of other things. Princess training only became more difficult. It was constant practice of getting in and out of cars with her legs together, along with other physical motions. Now it was being well read, which thankfully Meredith had a head start.

Wedding planning picked up, and Meredith did try harder. She got more involved but sometimes she didn't see the difference.

"Lace?"

"No lace," Meredith said. While she liked lace, Catherine's dress was mostly lace. She didn't need a lot of fluff and she didn't want a lot of extra cloth, as much as people tried to argue a train. "How about," Meredith began and thought they might say no, "it's a little bit shorter in the front so I can walk without tripping and then a bit of train. It evens out."

The designer wasn't so sure, yet it was Jessica who answered, "Ma'am, it needs to be long. It's one of the requirements by the monarchy."

"I know, so it shows off the shoes in the front a big. There is a train, which I don't know how many feet-- not too long hopefully. There's no lace, if much. Perhaps some velvet so it stays down, like straight in the front and pull-y in the back." Meredith motioned to the back, where it was long. "Wait, velvet is hot, isn't it?"

"Yes. What about other fabrics?"

Thankfully they brought a collection of fabrics for her, because Meredith didn't know the difference. "I like chiffon or, um, this one." Meredith was surprised she knew chiffon.

"Dupioni," the designer said. "What about satin?"

"No." There was only so much she could handle. "As for the neck, how low can it go?"

"It needs to be kept reasonable," Jessica interjected. "How low do you want to go?"

"Can't I show a bit of something?" Meredith whispered.

Jessica took a deep breath. "I'll see what I can do. What are you thinking, v-neck?"

"Or that one." Meredith pointed.

"Queen Anne, ma'am." The designer added that to the notes.

"The Queen passed along a message earlier through her secretary," Jessica said, and Meredith paused. "A tiara and some jewelry was offered by the Queen generously. She wondered if you might like to wear it. It'll go well with the simple dress you plan."

Meredith stood there stunned. She hadn't thought about it, but simple was better to her. However, this was a chance to wear a tiara. That sent in a new fear for Meredith, like she might break it somehow. It went for the jewelry as well.

"Ma'am?"

"What do you suggest I do?" Meredith asked.

"Wear the tiara and the jewelry," Jessica said like Meredith was daft. "It will go well with the dress and veil. Have you thought about the veil yet?"

"Do I have to wear a veil?"

"It is customary, and you may not get around it, especially when wearing a tiara."

"Veil it is."

The designer walked up. "For the skirt like you wanted, ma'am, the column skirt but you didn't want fluff. How about organza?" The designer held out the fabric. "It's stiffer so layers won't be necessary."

"Let's do that then." Meredith was mostly concerned of the heat.

"What about the color, ma'am?" the designer asked.

"White?" Meredith didn't understand the question. Wedding dresses were white, so her dress was going to be white too.

"Which color white?"

"There's more than one?"

"Yes: stark white, silk white, diamond white, ivory, champagne, and more." The designer held out a palate sheet. "Do you know which you like?"

Glancing at them, at least Meredith saw a bit of a difference, which was better than usual. "Diamond white."  Pulling her hair back, Meredith took a deep breath. "I know we can't open a window, but at least can we get some fans." While this all took place in the flat of Kensington Palace, the changing of all these dresses made it too warm inside. Jessica moved away to find some more fans.

Meredith checked herself in the mirrors again, and this certainly wasn't the dress. None of the dresses that came today were the one. No matter how many patterns she looked at or designs, none of them felt special enough.

"If you look at that!" Harry leaned against the door frame with a smile. "Is that the one?"

"No."

"Is because I can't see the bride in the dress before the wedding?"

"No." Walking over, Meredith needed a moment to breathe. This was a long day, and when it was over, she needed a drink. "Save me please," she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.

"I don't think I can do that," he said, "but, perhaps, later, we could--"

"Go out," she interrupted with hope.

"No, but I'm sure I can make you a nice dinner. We can relax. We'll watch a movie or telly."

"We do that every night."

He clicked his tongue. "Mere, I'll see what I can do. Maybe we'll make a drive out of town."

"That seems like a lot of work," which was something Meredith didn't want. She already had her fun of trying on wedding dresses. That was enough for today. She wanted to breathe, but she didn't want to go far. "How about, when it's dark, a walk along the Thames? How about that?"

Harry sighed, defeated.

He didn't know; he had been outside today. "Please, Harry, I need some time outside of here. I need air."

Harry kissed the top of our head. "After, I promise." Stepping away, Harry gave a wave and disappeared upstairs.

Rolling her eyes, Meredith returned to do someone else's bidding.