“On the far side of the building,” Princess Beatrice said. “Actually it is the very same apartment that our dear mama lived in as a child. I moved into it when she died in 1901, with my dear husband and children. My husband is no longer with us and my children are leading their own lives, but it gives me consolation to know that Mama was happy there as a young girl.”

I nodded with understanding.

“The only drawback is the constant tramping of feet as visitors go around the state rooms above my head,” she said. “You’ve discovered that certain rooms are open to the public, I take it?”

“I saw schoolchildren waiting to tour the palace today,” I said.

She gave a tired little smile. “Of course, it is only during the day. On the whole I enjoy seeing them. It can be rather lonely at times and I like seeing young fresh faces. We are glad that you have moved in here, and we’re most anxious to meet Marina, aren’t we, Louise?”

“We are,” Princess Louise said. “When she has settled in we’ll have a luncheron or a sherry party to introduce her to the rest of the aunts in this Aunt Heap, as your wicked cousin calls this place.”

Princess Beatrice leaned toward me. “Tell me,” she said, “have you met David’s mysterious lady friend?”

“I have and she’s no lady.”

“You mean his friend is really a man?”

I laughed. “No, ma’am. I meant that she is N.O.C.D. Not one of us. A brash American divorcée. Trying to divorce for a second time, so one gathers.” (Perhaps I should explain that N.O.C.D. is shorthand for Not Our Class, Dear, but one could hardly say that to a royal aunt.)

“An adventuress!” The two aunts exchanged a look.

“Well, nothing can come of it in the end,” Princess Louise said. “He certainly can never marry a divorced woman. Not as head of the Church of England.”

“He was such a charming little boy,” Princess Beatrice said wistfully. “Of course, his father rather favored him and gave him too much leeway, I always thought. And was too harsh on the second son. The poor little chap stuttered, you know, but his father couldn’t see that his shouting and bullying only made the stammer worse.” She paused and pulled her shawl more tightly around her. “But I rather think the second boy will end up showing more mettle than his brother. He’s married a lovely girl. She brings the two little daughters to visit occasionally, doesn’t she, Louise?”

Louise chuckled. “And that little Margaret Rose—she’s a firecracker. My, she’s going to be a handful when she grows up. She asked me if princesses could still have people’s heads chopped off.”