Princess in Training (Prince Harry #3)

Chapter Twenty-Six

For the Duke of Edinburgh just dying, Meredith looked mighty fine. While sadness was meant to be shown, there was mute other feelings. Dressed in black and with light makeup, Meredith gave not a lot. She needed to look a certain way. She needed to act a certain way.

When it came to Harry in private, she did that too. She wanted to express her own feelings, like Harry did, but she wasn't sure what she felt. There wasn't anger, and she accepted it. The Duke of Edinburgh was old and it was expected. There had been deaths in Harry's family that wasn't as expected, but Harry had some of those feelings about his grandfather too. He wished he said good bye.

There wasn't much time for them alone. As soon as Meredith was proper, it was off to Buckingham Palace. Meredith wanted to speak to Harry, but not with a driver or bodyguards or anyone around. He needed family, especially a very close family like his was, and suddenly it felt like Meredith was on the outside.

In a way, she was. She had no title. She had no money. She had no land. Meredith had a ring and Meredith had Harry, until he went off into the crowd.

Meredith hovered on the edge of the family, watching carefully. She followed the social customs of those around her. Even in just family, though rather large, it was quiet and calm. Not much emotion was shown.

Meredith knew why with the large family that it was kept in quiet, because it was so large. She had met enough of these people, but there were even more that she didn't know. No weakness could be shown even in a room of "family." There were people in this room that couldn't be trusted, who would sell secrets out just to move up in the world. That was why everything was kept in the immediate family.

The afternoon and this evening was meant for just the immediate family, but for now, it was crowded room of people, all coming to pay their respects, even though they just wanted to get ahead. They were here so quickly, like they had been waiting.

"My condolences for your loss, ma'am," said a woman, reaching for Meredith's hand.

While Meredith had the ability to pretend to be sad or even pretend to be noticed, she enjoyed being in the background for this. No one noticed her much, and she didn't like moments like these. "Thank you," Meredith replied nicely.

The woman didn't back like Meredith expected. "I wondered if I could have a word with you."

"Now isn't the proper time." She tried to move away, but the woman kept a hand firmly on Meredith. "Please remove your hand."

"We need to speak, ma'am. It is concerning Jack Campbell."

Meredith's blood went cold. Her face turned raw, and her body tensed. Her eyes bore into the woman who dared to speak that name, who brought him up at a time like this. Yet this woman knew exactly what she chose to do: kick a person while they were down.

"Oh, so the name does ring the bell."

Meredith tore her arm away and moved on.

Not for one second did she look back, and not for one second did she glance to see who watched her. Meredith calmly walked through the crowd. She calmly tried to find her way forward and then around the bends of people. She got so far into the crowd that she didn't know which way to go next, and then Harry found her.

"Harry, how are you?" she whispered, holding onto him carefully.

"I'll be better once we have some privacy," he said into her ear. "How have you been?"

Meredith didn't glance around but stood her ground. "Good, considering."

"It'll only be another hour, and then we can have some privacy."

Imagining more of it as private time between Harry and William, Meredith wasn't sure if that was any better. Yet she remained at Harry's side for the rest of the event, looking sad and peaceful in her thoughts. Her body wanted to look around, but Meredith remained perfectly still.

Slowly people started to file out of the room, giving the last good byes. Meredith expected to see the woman again with the long line. The woman was gone, swept out of the room before the procession started. As the immediate family started to go out, Meredith paused before leaving, stopping beside Bodyguard Bella.

"Are there cameras in here?" she whispered.

Bella didn't even look surprised. "I'm not sure, ma'am."

"You know about Jack Campbell." Anyone who worked so closely with Meredith had to know about Jack Campbell. "There was a woman in here who wanted to speak to me about him." She described the woman. "Could it be one of Jack Campbell's followers? If so, how the hell did they get in here?"

"I don't know if it was a follower, but maybe a reporter."

"This is just for the royal family."

"The further you go out, the more likely they are to have other occupations."

"And other occupations include trying to hurt the monarchy?" she asked.

"I'll speak to Bill--"

"No. Don't tell Bill. I want it kept under wraps."

Bella looked confused.

Meredith explained, "Bill will tell Harry anything, and he has more things going on. He needs to deal with the pain of losing his grandfather. If he is told about this, he will jump on it, thus not dealing with it. He has anger right now." Meredith breathed. "He thinks he's accepted it because he knows Philip can't come back. But he's angry at other things, like he wasn't there for the end."

"Is he angry at you, ma'am?"

"He wouldn't admit if he is, and we haven't exactly had a lot of time to talk. And he hasn't had much time to process."

"How are you, ma'am?"

"I accept it because I knew it was coming. I like the time I spent with Philip and I do wish that I had more, but I knew it was coming. Anyway, I didn't grow up knowing him like Harry did. To Harry, he was family. To me, Philip was a friend."

"But he still meant a lot to you."

Meredith nodded. "He's gone, and I try not to hold onto things for very long." She let out a small giggle. "That's why Harry says I've got commitment issues. Can you please look into that lady for me, Bella?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you."

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I'm back in the US so hopefully I'll update more often.