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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

Full of strong resolutions, and with her emotions again under control, May continued watching the storm grow in intensity, fiercely hoping that when Alicky married Eddy, she wouldn’t – at her Kindred Spirit’s request – be one of the bridesmaids walking down the aisle behind them.

Chapter Twelve

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MARCH 1888, MARLBOROUGH HOUSE

Well muffled up against a cold breeze, May, who was now twenty, and Alicky, who was only three months away from being sixteen, were swinging gently backwards and forwards on swings that had been erected at Marlborough House as an eighth-birthday present for Toria.

May had grown into an intelligent, quietly confident young woman who, although serious by nature, also possessed a sense of the ridiculous and was fun to be with. Her naturally dark gold hair held intriguing copper highlights and she wore it, as she had always worn it, pulled back high and tight at the sides and with a frizzled low fringe. It suited her and was distinctive – and May liked to be distinctive.

‘It’s good to be together again,’ she said to Alicky, whose riotous red-gold hair was scooped up beneath a fur hat that came down over her ears.

‘Yes. Family life is crazy, isn’t it? We didn’t meet up for ages and ages after becoming Kindred Spirits at Osborne, and now here we are, together again less than a year after Granny Queen’s Golden Jubilee.’

‘But this time without having a smoulderingly angry Willy to contend with.’

‘No, thank goodness.’ Alicky’s swing had come to rest and, with the toe of a high-buttoned boot, she pushed it into motion again. ‘Our secret Kindred Spirit has never been one of Uncle Bertie and Aunt Alix’s favourite nephews, so it’s no surprise they didn’t want him at their Silver Wedding celebrations.’

May’s arms were hooked around the chains of her swing, leaving her gloved hands free. She’d always thought there was an aura of glamour about twenty-nine-year-old Willy, but was well aware it wasn’t how his close relatives viewed him. She tucked her hands into the large fur muff that was resting on her knees and said, ‘Although he behaved badly at the Jubilee celebrations, I felt a lot of sympathy for him. After all, he is the Queen’s firstborn grandchild and if she had invited him to be her aide-de-camp for the day – as she did Eddy and Georgie – he could, like them, have ridden beside her carriage all along the processional route and would have been seen to be that little bit more special than any of the other world royalties taking part in it.’

‘And that would have made him happy?’