‘Miss Crawford, how very nice to meet you.’ Beatrice’s welcome was warm.

‘Mrs Gould, thank you for seeing me.’

‘Beatrice, please. And may I call you Marion or even …’ She laughed a little, clutching her pearls. ‘Crawfie?’

‘Either is fine. May I introduce my husband, Major George Buthlay?’

‘Lovely to meet you, George, and this is my husband, Bruce.’

‘How do you do, George?’ The men shook hands. ‘Can I fix you a coffee or maybe something stronger?’ Bruce asked.

George’s eyes gleamed. ‘Scotch and ice, please.’

‘On the rocks? Nice. I’ll join you.’

Marion accepted a coffee before each couple arranged themselves on the two sofas. A coffee table stood between them.

‘So, Marion.’ Beatrice set the ball rolling. ‘Do you know just what the Queen thinks of you? She adores you.’

Marion felt herself relax. ‘She is a wonderful person.’

‘She is! And Lady Astor too. She was the one who recommended you for this little enterprise.’

George finished his drink and Bruce quickly refilled it. ‘Thank you, Bruno,’ he said.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s Bruce.’

George nodded. ‘Bruce, of course. Now, what my wife needs to know is, what exactly is this little enterprise?’

Beatrice sat back. ‘Oh, it is going to be just wonderful. I will let Bruce explain.’

Bruce looked at Marion with admiration. ‘Crawfie – and this is so important – you hold in your hands the love of the royal Princesses and the King and Queen of Britain. In America we are so darn jealous of your British history. We really want to get a little bit of it. We adore your royal family, and when Princess Elizabeth got married to her Duke – well, we couldn’t get enough of it.’

Beatrice put her hand on her husband’s knee. ‘We got up so early to watch it on television. I mean, it was still dark outside. And it was so beautiful. We would have loved to have been there, wouldn’t we, Bruce?’

‘We were there,’ George told them.

‘Oh my God! You were there? You saw everything?’ Beatrice’s eyes were wide with the thrill.

‘Yes,’ Marion said. ‘It was wonderful.’

‘My wife went to the wedding breakfast,’ George boasted. ‘Unfortunately I had to work.’

‘No!’ Beatrice looked as if she were in heaven.

‘Oh yes,’ said Marion. ‘In fact, the night before, she came up to the nursery and had a long chat with me and Bobo. Bobo is her personal dresser but used to be the nurserymaid. She’s a dear. In fact, it was Bobo who took her tea tray in the next morning. She was the first person to see the Princess on her wedding day.’

‘This is wonderful,’ Beatrice said breathily. ‘Bruce, don’t you think this is wonderful?’

‘It’s – it’s incredible.’ Bruce grinned at his wife. ‘Quite incredible. And did you speak to the Princess on the morning of her wedding, Crawfie?’

‘Yes, it was quite funny really. She had mislaid the pearl necklace she wanted to wear and no one could find it, but then we realized it might be at St James’s Palace because it had been sent there to have its clasp fixed. So, I ran out of the palace, down the Mall, through all the crowds, found it and brought it back.’