A Royal Pain Read Online Free

and—” She broke off as a front door opened and a man came out, pausing at the top of the steps with a look of utter disdain on his face.
    “It’s Siegfried,” I hissed. “He’ll see me. Run.”
    It was too late. He looked in our direction as he came down the front steps. “Ah, Lady Georgiana. We meet again. What a pleasant surprise.” His face didn’t indicate that the surprise was in any way pleasant, but he did bow slightly.
    I grabbed at my coat and held it tightly around me so that my maid’s uniform didn’t show. I was horribly conscious of the scratch on my cheek and my hair in disarray. I must have looked a fright. Not that I wanted Siegfried to find me attractive, but I do have my pride.
    “Your Highness.” I nodded regally. “May I present my friend Belinda Warburton-Stoke?”
    “I believe we have had the pleasure before,” he said, although the words didn’t convey the same undertones as with most young men who had met Belinda. “In Switzerland, I believe.”
    “Of course,” Belinda said. “How do you do, Your Highness. Are you visiting London for long?”
    “My aunt has just arrived from the Continent, so of course I had to pay the required visit, although the house she has rented—what a disaster. Not fit for a dog.”
    “How terrible for you,” I said.
    “I shall endure it somehow,” he said, his expression suggesting that he was about to spend the night in the dungeons of the Tower of London. “And where are you ladies off to?”
    “We’re going to lunch, at the Savoy,” Belinda said.
    “The Savoy. The food is not bad there. Maybe I shall join you.”
    “That would be lovely,” Belinda said sweetly.
    I dug my fingers into her forearm. I knew this was her idea of having fun. It certainly wasn’t mine. I decided to play a trump card.
    “How kind of you, Your Highness. We have so much to talk about. Have you been out riding recently—since your unfortunate accident, I mean?” I asked sweetly.
    I saw a spasm of annoyance cross his face. “Ah,” he said, “I have just remembered that I promised to meet a fellow at his club. So sorry. Another time maybe?” He clicked his heels together in that strangely European gesture, and jerked his head in a bow. “I bid you adieu. Lady Georgiana. Miss Warburton-Stoke.” And he marched down Park Lane as quickly as his booted feet would carry him.

Chapter 3
    Belinda looked at me and started to laugh. “What was that about?”
    “He fell off his horse last time we were together, at that house party,” I said, “after he had boasted how well he could ride. I had to say something to stop him from coming to lunch with us. What on earth were you thinking?”
    Belinda’s eyes were twinkling. “I know, it was rather naughty of me but I couldn’t resist. You in your maid’s uniform and Prince Siegfried at the Savoy—how utterly scrumptious.”
    “I thought you were supposed to be my friend,” I said.
    “I am, darling. I am. But you have to admit that it would have been a riot.”
    “It would have been my worst nightmare.”
    “Why should you care what the odious man thinks? I thought the whole idea was to make sure that he would rather fall on his sword than marry you.”
    “Because he is liable to report back to the palace, especially if he noticed I was dressed as a maid, and even more especially if he put two and two together and realized he’d just spotted me cleaning his house. And if the palace found out, I’d be shipped off to the country to be lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria’s one surviving daughter and spend the rest of my days surrounded by Pekinese and knitting wool.”
    “Oh, I suppose you do have a valid point there.” Belinda tried not to smile. “Yes, that was rather insensitive of me. Come along, you’ll feel better after a jolly good lunch at the Savoy.” She started to drag me down Park Lane. “We’ll take a cab.”
    “Belinda, I can’t go to the Savoy dressed like this.”
    “No problem,