May and Alicky were left facing a wall of disapproval, sensing that one of the reasons for it was that Alicky’s nanny wasn’t with them. Before Alicky’s father could say so, May pre-empted his scolding by saying, ‘Cousin Willy has been awfully good at looking after us, Uncle Ludwig. Because he’s an army officer, we felt very safe.’

Picking up their stockings and boots, she took firm hold of Alicky’s hand. ‘And now, if it’s all right, we’re going to join Looloo, Toria and Maudie on the lawn for a game of Jacks.’

Without waiting for a reply, and still holding Alicky’s hand, she set off towards the trees, walking as speedily as Willy had. Only when they had reached them did she come to a halt.

‘I wasn’t fibbing when I said we were going back to the lawn to play Jacks with the Wales girls,’ she said, helping Alicky on with her boots. ‘It’s something I promised Aunt Alix I would do. You don’t mind, do you?’

‘No. I like playing Jacks, and I like Looloo and Maudie.’

‘What about Toria?’

Alicky frowned. ‘I don’t like Toria so much.’

‘Why?’ May was intrigued.

‘Because she’s a cat,’ Alicky said and, in complete agreement about Cousin Toria, they set off at a run up the woodland path.

Chapter Two

AUGUST 1879, OSBORNE HOUSE

Osborne was May’s favourite of all her Aunt Queen’s royal residences. Whenever she stayed there, and if Ella was there at the same time, they always shared a bedroom and stayed up talking long after they should have been asleep.

‘What did Aunt Queen want to talk to Vicky about this afternoon?’ May asked, sitting up in bed in the darkness, her arms hugging her knees. ‘Was it a prospective husband discussion?’

Ella made herself comfortable against the feather-filled pillows. ‘It was, and it didn’t end well. Granny Queen has two suitors in mind for Vicky, and Vicky says she’ll die before accepting either of them. One candidate was in his thirties and the other had a wooden leg. Can you imagine?’

May couldn’t.

‘And what makes it worse for Vicky is that she has a desperate crush on Louis of Battenberg, and for her to marry a Battenberg is out of the question.’

May was about to ask why, when she remembered that Louis’s parents’ marriage had been a mésalliance, just as her paternal grandparents’ marriage had been. Like her, Louis was a Serene Highness and, when it came to being eligible in the family’s marriage market, being a Serene and not a Royal simply wasn’t good enough. Quickly she changed the subject. ‘Do you know Cousin Willy is in love with you, and that when you’re old enough to be married, he plans on marrying you?’