“I’d have no objection,” I said. “But I’m afraid he sees me as a little girl still. He likes sophisticated older women.”

“He likes tarts,” Her Majesty said coldly. She glanced up as the doors opened and an array of tea trays was carried in. “Ah, tarts,” she repeated, just in case her comment should have reached the ears of the servants.

One by one the dishes were placed on the table. Tiny finger sandwiches with cress poking out of them, cake stands dotted with miniature éclairs and strawberry tarts. It was enough to bring tears to the eyes of one who had been living under Fig’s austerity all winter and for the past two days on toast and baked beans. The tears were not of joy, however. I had been to enough royal functions in my life to know the protocol. The guest only eats what Her Majesty eats. And Her Majesty was not likely to take more than a slice or two of brown bread. I sighed, waited for her to take brown bread, then took a slice myself.

“I thought I might employ you as my spy,” she said, as tea was poured.

“This summer at Castle Rannoch, you mean?”

“I must find out the truth before that, Georgiana,” she said. “I only hear rumors. I want a firsthand account from somebody I can trust. I understand that David has persuaded Lord and Lady Mountjoy to give a house party and May ball and to include this woman and her husband—”

“Her husband?” I knew one should never interrupt the queen. It just slipped out.

She nodded with understanding. “Such behavior may well be considered acceptable in America. She is apparently still living with her husband. He, poor creature, is dragged around to provide respectability and to dispel rumors. Of course one can never dispel rumors. It has been all we can do to keep the press mute on the subject and if David becomes more brazen in his pursuit of her, then I don’t think we’ll be able to suppress the rumors much longer. I say his pursuit of her, but frankly I believe it to be the other way around. I suspect that this woman is relentlessly pursuing him. You know what he’s like, Georgiana. An innocent at heart, easily flattered, easily seduced.” She put down the slice of brown bread and leaned a little closer to me. “I need to know the truth, Georgiana. I need to know whether this is a mere flirtation for this woman, or whether she has serious designs on my son. My worst fear is that, like all Americans, she is fascinated with royalty and dreams of being Queen of England.”

“Surely not, ma’am. A divorced woman? That’s impossible.”

“Let us hope it is impossible. The only solution is for the king to go on living until David becomes too old to be desirable as a catch. But I fear my husband’s health is failing. Never the same after the Great War. The strain was too much for him.”