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.He does have the most divine eyes, doesn’t he?”Juliet had to smile.“Yes, ma’am.He does.”“And the most stubborn nature.How do you deal with him?”“By letting him be himself,” Juliet replied, “and accepting him for who he is.”“I’m well aware of who he is.Although he insists no one else know until that confounded paperwork comes through from the French authorities.It should come any moment now.The two independent investigators that Luc also insisted we hire have told us they’ll have their final report within the next forty-eight hours with Luc’s DNA results.”“So soon?” Juliet’s stomach clenched at the thought of how little time they had left.“St.Michel has been without a king long enough.Celeste has been agitating to have her infant son named as the heir.The impudence of the woman! When there have been rumors for months about her having an affair, even before my poor son passed on.Who knows if her child is really my son’s? She refuses any DNA testing for the infant.That woman will never rule St.Michel, not as long as there’s breath left in my body!”The flush on the older woman’s cheeks concerned Juliet, as did her labored breathing.“It can’t be good for you to get so upset, ma’am.Would you like me to call someone?” The footman who had served them earlier had departed.“No, no, I’m fine.” The dowager queen patted Juliet’s hand.“There’s no need for concern.I’m not about to…how do those Americans put it? Ah, yes, I’m not about to kick the bucket just yet.”“I certainly hope not, ma’am.”“I intend to stick around for some time yet.After all, I’ve got a new grandson and I want to see him crowned as our next king.And I want to see him married and have children of his own to aggravate him.”“Luc would be an excellent father,” Juliet murmured, remembering how gentle he’d been with the kittens out in the stable.“I heard he took you to the carnival.Don’t look so surprised, very little occurs in this palace that I’m not aware of.”“He just needed a bit of time away from all this.”“It pains me that he is having trouble accepting the changes in his life.”“He needs time.His entire life has been turned upside down,” Juliet gently reminded her.“I understand that.What I don’t understand is why he won’t speak to me about it.”“Luc has never been the talkative type,” Juliet replied.“He’s not one to share his deepest feelings easily.That’s not to say that he doesn’t have heartfelt emotions, he does even if he doesn’t always want to.But he believes that emotions get in the way.”The dowager queen nodded her approval.“A proper royal attitude to be sure.”Juliet boldly gathered her courage.“I hope you won’t try and change Luc.He needs the freedom to be himself.”The dowager queen gave an imperial shrug.“A certain amount of freedom is lost when you are of royal birth, there is no getting around that fact.”“I realize that.But I’d hate to see Luc turn into an emotionless and distant man.I don’t want that for him.”“What do you want for him?”“His happiness,” Juliet said simply.“I just want him to be happy.”“Ah, that may be harder to achieve than you think.”“I’d do anything in my power to make him happy,” Juliet fiercely vowed.“Would you now, child? That’s admirable.” The dowager queen’s smile turned slightly melancholy.“But I fear that making Luc happy may be something that is beyond either of our abilities to control.”Juliet flopped down on her bed with a sigh of relief.She’d survived tea with the dowager queen.Not only had she survived but she’d struck gold—coming back with several pages of notes about the older woman’s life, including her recollections of her mother and herself as a young woman accompanying the royal family to London, where they lived in exile throughout the 1940s and the worst of the Second World War.At the time, St.Michel had an active resistance movement, like the French Resistance, and most of the men of the aristocracy joined forces with their fellow countrymen.King Philippe’s grandmother had carried top secret messages with her to give to the British authorities.Another case of a royal de Bergeron woman stepping forward to act courageously.A sudden pounding on her door interrupted her thoughts.She was surprised to find Luc standing in the hallway.Looking sexy and agitated, he strode past her without even waiting for an invitation to come in.Juliet barely closed the door before he began speaking.“I heard you were commanded to appear before the dowager queen.”“She invited me to tea.”“What for? Did she try and pump you for information about me? What did you tell her?”She put her finger on his lips as he’d once done her.“One question at a time.Do you remember when we had that protocol lesson in the dining room? When I talked about the difference between interrogation and conversation? This would be a prime example.You’re interrogating me.”“I most certainly am.” He relaxed his tense stance and began seductively nibbling her finger.“And I make no apologies for that.”“For what?” Her voice was breathless and distracted.“For interrogating you.I’m attempting to get the facts here.”“And did you think you could nibble them out of me?” She would have sounded righteously indignant were it not for the hint of laughter in her voice.“I thought it might be fun to find out.”Fun? That was putting it mildly.“So what did the dowager queen want?”Juliet couldn’t speak coherently and be seduced by him at the same time.Taking a step away from him allowed her to resist the temptation Luc provided.“She said she wanted to get to know me better
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