Carnival of Light || Paul McCartney/Beatles

12. Who Is She? / You Know My Name (Paul)

Carnival of Light (Part 2)

12.

Paul blinked away the spots colouring his vision, his eyes sweeping the group of photographers and reporters standing on the concourse.

He looked at Beatrix, who was blinking hard against the flashing bulbs, and he remembered the first time he was faced with this amount of light at once – London, 1963. Girls had been screaming and the cameras had been flashing so relentlessly Paul felt like his eyes were going to melt out of his head.

"Paul! Why've you been keepin' her a secret!"

"Beatrix! What's it like dating a Beatle!"

He got Beatrix in the car and ducked in after her, pulling the door shut against the flashing bulbs and shouted questions.

"You alright, love?" Paul cupped her face to get her to look at him.

She had her eyes screwed shut, probably because they felt like they were about to melt out of her head. Paul could feel her pulse fluttering frantically in her throat against the heel of his hand, like a little bird trying to escape.

"I'm fine," Beatrix said, not opening her eyes. "I think."

Mal dove into the back of the car, allowing another hailstorm of flashing bulbs to go off before he slammed the door shut and the car promptly pulled away from the curb.

"What the fuck is all this?" Paul demanded.

"They weren't there two minutes ago," Mal said breathlessly.

"Then where the fuck did they come from?" Paul snapped, grateful to have Mal to shout at so he had something to focus on other than Beatrix and her melting eyes.

***

The story broke in the papers the next day, and it wasn't all that bad. The Herald had clearly been doing their research and did a full page on Beatle Paul McCartney and his girlfriend, Lady Beatrix Beauford, sister of the 11th Earl of Lisemore. The young couple have been seeing each other in secret since the start of the year, etc. The rest were scattered stories about Paul coming back from a holiday with his new girlfriend. As per usual there was a lot of focus on his moustache, or lack thereof now.

Tony Barrow came for a visit to Cavendish that afternoon.

"It's all over Fleet Street," he told them. "Beatle Paul's Secret Lady is what they're all going with. It sounds very romantic, actually. Could be a lot worse."

Beatrix sat on the settee smoking and looking thoughtful. Paul sat beside her, ruffling his hair and watching her from the corner of his eye.

"A press conference is too much," Tony carried on. "It's not like you're getting married. Just let them see you out together so they can get some pictures of you. They seem to like you, Bea. It won't be too bad."

"Beatrix," she corrected him reflexively.

They went out to the Speakeasy that evening and Tony tipped the press off so they'd be caught out together. In the morning, every bloody paper in Britain had a story about Paul and his new girlfriend, Lady Beatrix Beauford, daughter of the late Lord Beauford who'd been best mates with Churchill and King George, and descendent of the Duke of so-and-so who bet on the right King hundreds of years ago.

There was no mention of Beatrix's books or her play. You'd think she fell out of finishing school into Paul's arms.

Beatrix sat on the settee smoking as she looked through the papers for the third day running, her expression hard to read, which always made Paul uneasy.