Third In Line

Chapter Fifty - Ghosts of Godwick

"That won't be necessary." Dad said, trying to get us both out of this. "We appreciate the chance to bathe and the clean clothes, but after that we will be on our way."

"Nonsense!" Viola waved away that idea nonchalantly. "The weather shows no sign of improving and I wont have you going back out into that mess. And as you have no car my daughter will have to drive you again, so I won't have her going out either and risking the vehicle I paid for."

We were defeated and we knew it. We couldn't exactly walk back out into the rain just to prove a point, and if we stayed we couldn't decline Viola's offer of dinner either. I don't even think she knew how much we didn't want to be there, or she ignored it. As far as Viola Watts-Digby was concerned, Their Royal Highnesses The Duke of Cambridge and Princess Eleanor had accepted her invitation to visit and could well be staying the night. Viola was already heading back up the stairs, probably to have our bedrooms prepared.

"What do we do now?" I whispered to Dad.

"Just go along with her for now. We could do with the bath. I'll try and get one of the guys to come pick us up in the meantime." Dad told me.

"Oh, maids!" Viola called from the top of the stairs, making the servants either side of us stand to attention. "Have her wear one of Abigail's gowns, they were always more suited for a Princess. The red one with the bow at the back will do nicely."

I felt like a child, like I was five years old and had to stand around in my underwear whilst Mum picked my outfit for the day. At least back then it was always something comfortable she'd pick for me, but now I had no choice but be forced to wear some other girl's gown? One that I immediately knew was going to be far from modern, if Viola's outfit was anything to go by.

One of the maids, a black haired woman probably in her thirties, held out her hand to me. "Take my hand Your Highness."

"I can walk on my own." I said stubbornly, crossing my arms.

The maid gave me a surprised look and nodded. She gestured for us to follow her deeper into the house and we did so, not without our escort of six maids. It didn't seem like any of them were used to children acting the way I was, or in fact the way Dad was acting. Even if we were still following Viola's instructions, we had definitely shown a lot more resistance than she was expecting. The whole household was feeling it. It was easy to tell that most sane people didn't visit Godwick very often.

They lead us to our rooms, and after Dad agreed it was okay, we were separated. The maids were incredibly forceful, turning me around by the shoulders as soon as Dad wasn't looking and then guiding me into a huge bedroom as if they were herding me into a pen. They knew I couldn't do anything but argue with them when my Dad wasn't around to scold them, and that became all too obvious once the doors closed.

The room was huge, distracting and beautiful. Everything was decorated in ornate gold, silk, plush. Huge windows looked out across the back lawn, with giant red curtains that looked like they'd been stolen from Buckingham Palace. It was definitely a girl's room, but it looked like it hadn't been lived in in years. There were some old pictures and teddy bears scattered around which made it look like it belonged to someone, but it was completely spotless.

Now even with all the cleaning staff at Kensington Palace, I could still turn my room into a mess, or at least make it look like I'd been there. This room didn't look like it had been touched until we stepped in through the door.

The maids must have got tired of me gawping at the room. Their hands, so many of them, grabbed at my clothes. A couple trying to pull my jacket off, two more down by my feet untying my laces. For a fleeting moment I could feel the urge to just let the maids do their thing, to practically let them move every muscle in my body themselves, but it just felt so wrong. I wasn't a child that they could herd like a sheep and contort like a puppet, and undressing me? I could handle someone taking off my coat, or shopping with Alex and turning each other into dress up dolls, but total strangers stripping me down to my underwear?