Page 131 of The Unlikely Heir

I probably shouldn’t tell Raymond and Maudie I’m in love with Oliver before I say the actual words to him.

Raymond’s forehead creases. “You have feelings for someone? When have you had the chance to develop feelings for someone?”

“We’ve deliberately been keeping it under wraps.”

Raymond leans his head back on his chair and closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Please tell me that this woman is from an impeccable pedigree with absolutely no skeletons in her closet.”

“Uh…actually…um…it’s a guy.”

There’s dead silence around the table. It ticks on for a minute.

“It’s okay, we can work with that,” Maudie says finally.

Raymond snaps open his eyes and rounds on her. “What? What do you mean, ‘We can work with that?’”

Maudie shrugs. “The public is far more accepting of LGBTQ+ relationships now. We have a gay prime minister, after all.”

I swallow. Hard.

“Most are, but you’ve still got a minority of the public who are homophobic. This could be enough to tilt the public’s opinion about the monarchy,” Raymond counters. He whirls to look at me.

“What about succession? The public will demand to know what happens if there’s a gay king. There will be all sorts of uncomfortable questions we’ll have to address. Does this guy understand if you have kids, they’ll have to be genetically your children?”

Oh, holy shit. It feels like we’ve taken quite a few metaphorical leaps in a short space of time.

“We haven’t discussed that yet,” I say, feeling lightheaded.

“And you’re also going to be the head of the Church of England. Correct me if I’m wrong, but their current position is that marriage is between a man and a woman, and clergy are forbidden to perform same-sex marriages.”

“There’s been lots of backlash over that recently, and some senior bishops have been calling for change,” Maudie says. “They’ve recently apologized for the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in the past. It’s an evolving situation. By the time Callum takes the throne, it might be a non-issue.”

“What about the Commonwealth? He’ll have to visit countries where sex between two men is illegal. It’s still punishable by the death penalty in some of them!”

“Once again, things are changing,” Maudie soothes. “Progress is being made. Who knows what it will be like by the time it becomes a factor.”

“You don’t think the heir to the throne being in a gay relationship will trigger some of these countries to leave the Commonwealth? It’s bad enough he’s American.”

I flinch, but Raymond is still in full rant mode as he turns to me. “Is this guy ready to be in the spotlight? You know what it’s like, the new partners of any members of the royal family are picked apart by the media. It’s unavoidable. It’ll be even worse if it’s a man.”

“He’s already used to being in the spotlight,” I say.

Raymond freezes.

“What do you mean he’s used to being in a spotlight?”

“Ah…he has a job that means he’s currently in the spotlight.”

Raymond’s eyes bore straight into me. “Who is it?”

His mustache curls up at both ends like it’s dreading the answer.

I take a deep breath. “It’s Oliver Hartwell.”

Raymond’s mustache goes limp, lifeless.

My gaze flicks to Maudie, but she appears equally flummoxed.

I’ve never understood how silence can be deafening, but I get it now. The silence around this table thunders in my ear canals, making me feel like I’ll never hear sound again.