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Back The Summer Queen
Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. The Summer Queen
  3. Dedication Page
  4. Family Tree of King George III
  5. Family Tree of Queen Victoria
  6. PART ONE
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. PART TWO
  21. Chapter Fourteen
  22. Chapter Fifteen
  23. Chapter Sixteen
  24. Chapter Seventeen
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-One
  29. Chapter Twenty-Two
  30. Chapter Twenty-Three
  31. Chapter Twenty-Four
  32. PART THREE
  33. Chapter Twenty-Five
  34. Chapter Twenty-Six
  35. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  36. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  37. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  38. Chapter Thirty
  39. Chapter Thirty-One
  40. Chapter Thirty-Two
  41. PART FOUR
  42. Chapter Thirty-Three
  43. Chapter Thirty-Four
  44. Chapter Thirty-Five
  45. Chapter Thirty-Six
  46. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  47. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  48. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  49. Chapter Forty
  50. Chapter Forty-One
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Select Bibliography
  53. The Summer Queen
  54. By Margaret Pemberton

May thought that she, too, might die of heart failure. How could she be in a public place – and not just any public place, but Piccadilly Circus – listening to dearest, lovely Maudie telling her that she was no longer a virgin, and that the person responsible was her brother Frank? She tried to imagine the repercussions if the Queen was to get to know of it, but her imagination simply wouldn’t stretch that far.

‘And so you will tell your mama that Frank wants to marry me, and you will ask your mama to speak with Granny Queen about her giving permission for him to do so, won’t you? Everything will be so much nicer if no notice is taken of the silly old unequal-birth thing, and Frank and I can have a lovely wedding at Buckingham Palace.’

‘Yes.’ May fought off a wave of dizziness by focusing on the bronze statue on top of the fountain. ‘Yes, I will speak with Mama, Maudie.’

‘But not about how far down the road Frank and I have gone? I want to save that as a last resort.’

It was a last resort that May fervently hoped would never be used.

‘Frank wants to marry Maudie?’ Princess Mary Adelaide’s reaction was one of amazement, swiftly followed by delight. Out of Bertie and Alix’s five children, Maudie had always been her favourite and she could think of nothing nicer than to have Maudie as a daughter-in-law. ‘But why hasn’t Frank spoken to Papa about wishing to do so? And he hasn’t. Papa wouldn’t keep that kind of news to himself.’

‘Maudie says Frank is certain that if he were to ask her father and Aunt Queen for permission to marry her, permission would be refused on the grounds of his being a Serene, and Frank wouldn’t have wanted to remind Papa of the unequal-birth thing in his lineage. You know how mention of that always upsets him.’

Her mother knew it only too well.

‘And so if you and Papa are happy at the thought of her marrying Frank, Maudie wanted me to ask if you will approach Aunt Queen about the two of them marrying. As Aunt Queen broke an old-established rule by allowing Looloo to marry a non-royal, I don’t see why she wouldn’t do the same thing for Maudie.’