‘I should think not,’ says Margaret. ‘She’ll look absolutely mad … oh, sorry, Philip,’ she adds carelessly. ‘I know it’s a touchy subject.’

‘My mother may have spent some time in sanatoriums, but she is not mad,’ he grinds out. ‘She’s devout. She spent the war hiding a family at risk from the Germans. She sold her jewels to feed the poor. What did your mother do? Walked around a few ruins and smiled at people!’

‘That’s enough.’ Elizabeth’s voice is sharp as she gets abruptly to her feet. ‘Margaret, you’re not being helpful. Can you give Philip and me some time on our own?’

‘Oh, all right.’ Pouting, Margaret gets up from the sofa. ‘Philip’s so cross all the time I don’t want to stay for supper anyway.’

Chapter 44

Elizabeth waits until her sister has flounced out before sinking down into her chair. She rubs her temples. ‘I’m sorry about Margaret,’ she says. ‘She doesn’t mean to be hurtful. She’s just … thoughtless. And I’m sorry about your sisters, Philip. I really am.’

Philip rose when she did but now he sits down again too. ‘You look tired.’

‘I didn’t realise quite how much was involved in getting married.’ She offers him a weary smile. ‘Isn’t this supposed to be a happy time?’

‘That’s what I thought, too,’ he says with a wry smile. ‘So, let’s hear the worst of it. The cost of the wedding, the guest list … what else?’

‘Clarence House. They’ve estimated fifty thousand pounds to make it habitable. Can you imagine?’

He pulls a face. ‘Well, it hasn’t been used as a home for a while. It’ll need gutting.’

‘It’s going to take at least two years, they think.’

‘Two years?’ Philip echoes in dismay. ‘Where are we supposed to live in the meantime?’

Elizabeth hesitates. ‘Here, I’m afraid.’

‘Oh God, living with the in-laws!’ Philip clutches his head in his hands.

‘We’ll have our own suite of rooms.’

‘It’s not the same as having a home of our own.’

‘I know, but we’ll have to make the best of it – just like everyone else is doing.’

Philip releases a long-suffering, spluttering sigh. If there’s one thing he hasn’t wanted to do it’s to live at Buckingham Palace. It is cold, uncomfortable, inconvenient and stuffed with starchy courtiers and disapproving staff. Given the choice, he isn’t sure he wouldn’t rather live in the converted munitions hut which is his current quarters at Corsham.

‘And now there are problems over Sunninghill as well.’ It seems Elizabeth hasn’t finished. ‘You remember Papa gave it to us as a weekend retreat when we got engaged? The local council want to requisition it for conversion to flats for the homeless.’

‘Oh, great,’ Philip says in a flat voice. A weekend retreat versus homes for those made homeless by the war. Even he wouldn’t have a problem making that choice.

‘I really wanted us to have a home that we could build together,’ Elizabeth says, ‘but …’