She takes the tiara from Elizabeth and hands it to him. ‘What do you think?’

He turns it between his hands. The metal is tarnished and the diamonds dull, but you can see that it was once a magnificent piece.

‘Your papa gave it to me,’ Alice says reminiscently. Reaching over, she lays a gnarled hand on his knee. ‘This is all I have left to give you, Philip. I sold everything else to help the children but this, this I kept for you.’

Chapter 38

‘If it was cleaned up,’ the Dowager says, ‘it would look better. That central diamond is a beauty.’

Philip lifts his eyes from the tiara to his mother’s face. His grandmother is right. The stones are very fine. This would solve the problem of the ring. ‘Are you sure, Mama?’

‘Of course I am sure. But ask Elizabeth. She will be the one wearing it.’

‘Elizabeth?’

‘I think it’s a lovely idea,’ she says warmly. ‘I would love to wear a ring which has a connection with your family.’

Philip lets out a breath. ‘Then, thank you, Mama.’ He gets up and kisses her cheek and she lifts a hand to pat his cheek. ‘I have not given you much, Philip. I am glad to be able to give you this.’

His throat is tight and he’s glad when his grandmother takes charge. ‘We’ll ask a jeweller to come here and look at the tiara. We can tell him Alice wants the stones reset as a ring. No reason for them to know who it’s for.’

They will probably guess, Philip thinks, but what is the alternative? He can hardly go into a jeweller himself without alerting everyone to the prospect of an engagement. The rumours are flying fast and furious as it is. His grandmother is right; they need to get on with things. It’s not long until July. He wouldn’t be surprised if the King tries to delay things further. It’s time to behave as if the engagement is established fact.

He looks from his mother to the Dowager. ‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘Thank you both.’

Elizabeth decides that she wants a simple design. The jeweller Philip Antrobus is summoned to Kensington Palace and inspects the tiara.

‘I told him I wanted the stones made up as a ring,’ Alice tells Philip when he rings up to find out how she got on. ‘His expression didn’t so much as flicker but I fear he may have guessed that the ring was not, in fact, for me.’

‘Oh, well, I suppose that was inevitable. Will he let you know when it’s ready?’

‘He says it should be done by the beginning of July.’

‘Perfect,’ says Philip.

It is a strange limbo time. He still spends the week on duty at Corsham, but it’s hard to concentrate on training petty officers when his future is being decided by the government and Commonwealth leaders and a king reluctant to let his daughter go. In the long summer evenings Philip and his fellow naval officers play cricket and darts against the team at the Methuen Arms, where it has been a relief to discover that the locals know little and care less about royal politics. To them, he is just another naval type, down for some good-natured banter and renowned as a batsman.