𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛. ʙʀɪᴛɪsʜ ʀᴏʏᴀʟ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ

7 ♔♕ 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆

𝚖𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟽

Bella had been back at school for a few weeks now. And it had been, well, weird.

Normally, the school day would end and either her mum or her nanny would pick her up. They would then take the short walk back to Kensington Palace and Bella would blabber on about things she had learnt that day. Then, if she had any homework, and dependent on what it was, either her mum would help her or she'd get someone else within the household to help Bella with it. And then they might go read a book or dance or Bella would go riding or they'd watch trashy telly together.

But now, now it had all changed.

Her pa had moved into Clarence House during the week so that they didn't have to keep driving from Highgrove to school everyday. And, it was nice, it was nice to spend more time with him and it was nice to spend more time with her great granny, but there was still a huge gaping hole that had been left in her life.

They were sat in the sitting room when her father walked in, Bella at The Queen Mother's desk, and her great grandmother sat in a chair watching her closely.

"Hello granny." He murmured, after kissing her on the cheek he sat down on the sofa next to her, watching his daughter who appeared to be heavily engrossed in whatever it was that she was doing.

She had been quiet recently. It was to be expected of course, Bella had lost her mother. But Charles had thought, perhaps rather naively, that after the funeral she might get a bit better. And she had, but only slightly.

His daughter was never quiet. She had learnt to talk early and hadn't stopped since. He used to delight in her running up to him and telling him with the biggest smile on her face a new fact she had learnt. He hadn't seen that smile in a long time.

He turned back to his grandmother, "Has she..."

"No." She replied, watching as Bella hunched over her work. Patting his shoulder as she stood up, she continued, "I'll go, maybe have a talk to her?" Charles nodded in reply, watching as his grandmother left the room leaving just himself and his daughter alone.

"What are you working on?" He asked quietly as he moved to stand behind her chair, placing his hands lightly on her shoulders he bent down to get a closer look. His breath hitched slightly as he saw for the first time what it was she was doing, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"It's for English, we just started it today." She answered, not noticing her fathers reaction.

"And what do you think?" He asked, his mind turning back to the first time he encountered her mother, "I love A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"Oh so do I...all the characters have such wonderful names, Flute, Snout, Good-fellow."

"I like it so far, the characters have funny names." His daughter replied, a smile gracing her lips at the thought. "There's one called bottom."

Charles chuckled at his daughter as he sat down in the plush chair next to his grandmother's desk.

"They gave that part to a girl called Francesca Lamont...who also happens to have the most enormous backside..."

He smiled at the memory before turning his attention back to the blonde head of his daughter, the same blonde as her mother. "What are you doing there then?"

"We've got to make predictions about the story and say what we think about it so far." Bella replied, still staring down at her work.

"Okay...and what do you think?"

"It's alright, we only read a few pages today but I like it so far I think."

"Good, it's a good play." Charles leant forward, placing his elbows onto the desk, "what else is it? You can tell me ma joie."

She looked up for the first time at the use of his nickname for her, a small smile forming itself on her lips. It was then though, when she finally lifted her gaze to meet his, that the unshed tears in her eyes showed clear.

"It's just," she gulped, "it's just...mummy used to always help me with my English homework and, and this is the first time that I've had to do it...without her."

"Oh darling..." Charles replied, gently pulling her into his lap as she began to cry. "Shh...it's okay...I know, I know...it's okay."

"It's just..." she hiccuped, pushing herself off of his chest, "I, I miss mummy so much."

"I know Bella, I know." He brought a hand to her hair, gently stroking it as her cries began to quieten. "Would you um...would you like me to, to read it to you?" Charles felt her think for a moment, before she slowly began to nod her head against his chest. "Okay, well you go, you go sit down on the sofa whilst I try find it...I'm sure gran-gran will have a copy in here somewhere."

After some searching, he did indeed find a copy. Charles turned back to his daughter, whose breathing had now returned to normal, the only evidence of her tears were the red rimmed eyes that watched him as he sat down next to her. She laid her head against his shoulder as he opened the first page, and, taking a deep breath, began.

"Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace; four happy days bring in
Another moon"

Charles felt her breath change before he even got to the end of the first scene. She had fallen asleep against him for the first time in a long time, the grief stricken look that had overtaken her face for so long had disappeared, replaced by the childlike innocence that had been taken away that morning in Balmoral.

He decided to finish there, wanting to read the rest of the play with his daughter who now looked so peaceful. He sat there for a long time, afraid to move in case he should wake his darling daughter and make her remember once again that her mother was no longer here. It was as he sat there, thinking about everything and nothing, that the last line he had uttered played like a record around his head, repeating constantly.

"How chance the roses there do fade so fast?"

♔♕

A/N: just a quick snippet of their life now. If there's any avid Crown fans that read this, then this whole chapter was inspired by the scene where Charles meets Diana for the first time and they talk about A Midsummer Night's Dream...