Page 136

“Good. I was thinking, we could maybe sponsor more scholarships for students like Camilla. It could be something we award to families who need the help but can’t afford it.”

“Yeah?” Palmer asked, surprised at the topic.

“You could maybe run it. It could be a foundation. I wouldn’t expect it to be a full-time job, and you could have a staff and still have time to write or–”

“You want me to run a foundation?” Palmer asked.

“No, not unlessyouwant to. It was just an idea. I thought it would be nice.”

“It would be nice. I don’t have any experience with that, though.”

“You could hire people who do, and you could help them select the families. Maybe even ask Camilla to help.”

“What’s thisreallyabout?” Palmer asked, sensing an ulterior motive.

“You’re coming to St. Rais for Victoria’s wedding.” Elizabeth sat up and turned to face her. She glanced down at Palmer’s bare breasts, cleared her throat, and returned her eyes to Palmer’s. “We’ve talked about you going, but not specifically you being my official escort.”

“Yeah…”

“I want you to be myofficialescort.”

“Yeah?” Palmer asked this time.

“Yes, love. I plan to tell the country about you, about us, and this wedding is a good way to do it. Even Thomas agrees that it gives us a good chance for people to see the four of us as a family.”

“Family?”

“You are my family, Palmer.”

“You’re mine, too,” Palmer said. “And I’m happy to be your escort, but I still don’t know what this has to do with me running some–” She stopped when she figured it out. “That sounds like something a Queen might do, or maybe a Queen Consort.”

Elizabeth softly smiled at her and said, “You don’t ever have to do anything you don’t want to do, Palmer. If you want to live here, we’ll figure things out. I’ll come here as often as I can. We can even buy a house somewhere in the States. I’ll do whatever I can for us, but if you’re moving to St. Rais one day, and we’re thinking that the future for us could be with a wedding and with children, this would be a step in that direction. Getting you a job that a Queen Consort would typically do would show the country that we’re heading in that direction. It would provide that stability of the monarchy.”

“I guess it would help.”

“But I want to be clear,” Elizabeth added, climbing on top of her. “You don’t have to have a typical Queen Consort job if you don’t want it. You can write full-time or report for the news; build sailboats, for all I care. I just want you to be happy. If that means we shake upallthe rules of the monarchy, I’m in, my love.”

“You’d really buy a place in the US?” Palmer asked, running her hands through Elizabeth’s long, luxurious hair.

“Of course, I would. I couldn’t live there full-time, but we should have a place near Pittsburgh no matter what for when we visit your family. I can ask Rebecca to look into it when I return to St. Rais.”

“This is crazy,” Palmer said, chuckling. “It’s only been a few months.”

“And after the worst possible time, these few months have been the best months in my entire life. We can go as fast or as slow as we want here, Palmer. I won’t rush you to agree to something you’re not yet ready for. I just want you to know where my heart is.”

“With me?” Palmer asked.

“Yes, with you.” Elizabeth kissed her lips. “Onlyyou, sweetheart.”

“If I help these families, I can still write if I want,” she said it out loud just to hear how it sounded.

“If you want to, you can even take that piece you wrote about me and turn that into something. It’s beautiful, Palmer. Other people should read it.”

“That was just for you.”

“I’ll leave that up to you, but it doesn’t have to be. Either way, yes, you can write; you can not work at all. It’s completely up to you.”

“Right now, I’d like to make love to my girlfriend who came across the ocean just because she knew I needed her.”